Truth of a Toddler
by kmvb
Summary: Hermione ran away five years ago, leaving Harry in the dust. But now she’s back, with a daughter and no father. What happens when her daughter finds out who the father is, but she doesn't want her to know?
1. Hermione

Truth of A Toddler

Summary: Hermione ran away five years ago, leaving Harry in the dust. But now she's back, with a daughter and no father. What happens when her daughter finds out who the father is, but she doesn't want her to know?

Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns all Harry Potter related characters, places, etc.

Chapter 1

Leaving

Hermione sat down, on a chair, with a four year old sleeping on her lap. Everything had been so hectic, so crazy. It had been five years since she left Harry, the love of her life. As much as this killed her to leave him, she knew she had to. She was then pregnant, with his baby.

She sat with her daughter's head on one arm, and a piece of parchment clutched in the other. She kept reading it, over and over again. She didn't believe it; she didn't want to, that is.

_Dear Ms. Hermione Granger,_

_We cordially invite you to the wedding of Ginevra Weasley and Harry Potter. The wedding will take place on the 20th of June, 2006. We hope you will attend._

_Sincerely_

_Harry J. Potter_

_Ginny Weasley_

Here it was, exactly three months away from the wedding. AS much as she didn't want to go, she knew she had to, she owed Ginny at least this much. Ginny was the only one that knew Hermione had a child, and knew that Harry was the father, but she told no one. Recently, Harry owled Hermione asking her if she wanted to be the maid of honor, because Ginny wanted her to be, and if she could come a few months early so they could catch up.

When Hermione received this, she was shocked that Harry wasn't mad at her, mad that she left her. It had been years since she had actually heard from him, anyone in the magical world for that matter. She decided that Ginny must have talked to him about this, and made him change his mind about being angry with her.

Suddenly, her daughter started to move. She looked a lot like Harry, there was no doubt it was his. If anyone from the magical world saw her, they would know right away it was Harry's child. This was one of the biggest reasons why she was afraid to go back into the wizarding world, she did not want Harry to find out he had a daughter. She just wanted him to forget about her because she knew this would be for the better.

She slowly picked up her daughter and rose up. She walked very smooth and slowly, trying not to wake her. She did a quick spell and the bags in front of her disappeared.

_(AN-Even thought she's not in the Wizarding World, she still uses magic.)_

"Mommy, where are we going?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Shh…go back to sleep. Were just going to Harry's." Hermione answered,

"Her daughter listened to her, and slowly drifted back to sleep.

"Your father," she muttered.

_AN- Next chapter will be much longer. This story will definitely be hp/hg, eventually, no mater what. It might not seem like that the first few chapters, but it will._

_Please Review_

_Kelly_


	2. The Airport

_Thanks for the Reviews._

_Please bear with me throughout the beginning of this chapter if it is not accurate, I haven't been on a plan in about 7 or 8 years._

_In this chapter I use an airport called London International Airport. Don't ask if it's real, because I don't really know. So don't sue me!_

Chapter 2

The Airport

Hermione picked up her daughter and held her in her arms, waiting to board the airplane back to London. There was many people waiting in a line and Emily started to get fidgety.

"Ticket Please," The flight attendant asked her. Hermione pulled out two tickets and handed them to her. She ripped off the stub and gave the other piece back to them.

Hermione walked onto the plane, nervous. This wasn't the first time she had flown, but it was the first time she had gone with her daughter. She would have much rather apparated or took a portkey, but she was unsure how her daughter would react to the sensation. She then placed her in the seat on the airplane, right next to her. Hermione closed her eyes, and rested her head, knowing this was going to be a very interesting trip.

* * *

Hermione quickly opened her eyes, remembering exactly where she was, and what she was doing. She couldn't actually believe she fell asleep under these circumstances. Hermione looked over at her daughter, who was staring wide-eyed out the window, amazed with the outside sky.

"Good morning mommy."

"Good morning Emily." Hermione said.

"Where are we momma?" she asked. Emily had the sweetest voice that put a smile across Hermione's face no matter what mood she was in.

"We're in an airplane, so we can go to Harry's. He and my friend Ginny are getting married."

"Who are they?" She asked, unsure if she had ever met them before. _(AN-Don't you just love when kids ask you a billion questions, lol)_

"Very good friends of mine, from when I was back in school."

"Do I know them?" she asked, trying to figure out the whole picture.

"No," Hermione said plainly.

"Why not?"

Hermione thought for a moment, trying to find a way to answer this question. "I don't know why. We just haven't talked in a while."

"Oh…" Emily said. Hermione thought she was completely satisfied with the answers, but another one formed in Emily's head. "Mommy, aren't weddings suppose to be happy?"

"Yes, they are."

"Then why do you look so sad?" Emily asked sincerely.

Hermione pondered again, trying to think of another good way to answer this question. "Well, since Mommy hasn't seen Harry in a long time, she's afraid of what she might think of her." Hermione said, once again giving a half true answer.

"Oh... Is Harry your find?"

"Yes."

"Then why will he not like you?"

"I don't know."

* * *

"We are now coming in for a landing at London International Airport. Please buckle your seat belts as we secure this landing." The airplane pilot announced over the intercom to every passenger.

Hermione looked over to her daughter and buckled her seat belt again, then her own, following the passenger's command. She took another deep breather, becoming more worried then she was before.

"We have successfully landed." The pilot stated. The airplane went around the runway and pulled into the airport. It then stopped at its gate.

Everyone slowly started getting up, taking luggage out of the top compartments, if they had any there. Most passengers then exited the airplane. Hermione picked her daughter up, making sure she wouldn't get away from her.

They got off the airplane and walked a little while down a plain hallway. They saw the light of the airport, and Emily started itching to get out of her mother's arms.

The airport was very modern; it looked like it was just recently rebuilt. There were tons of seats facing the windows, where passengers were waiting to board or family members were waiting to get of the plane. Emily kept staring out the windows, amazed at the size of the airplanes.

"Hermione!" someone screamed.

Hermione quickly snapped her head in the direction of the voice. She saw a much older Ginny running toward her. She looked exactly the same as when Hermione last saw her, but a little taller. She quickly embraced her in a hug.

"Nice to see you again." Hermione said.

"And you too. And this must be Emily right?" Ginny said sweetly to her. I'm your Mommy's friend."

They walked away from the airport, catching up.

"Did you tell Harry?" Hermione whispered.

"No, I didn't think you wanted me to?"

By that time they had made it all the way through the airport. They walked through the parking lot, and Ginny found where she parked the car. They each got in, and Ginny drove away.

"Do you think I should?" Hermione asked, hoping her best friend could give her some advice. Emily sat in the back, once again staring out the window.

"Stop worrying Hermione, it's going to be fine."

"He's definitely going t know she's his."

"Not necessarily."

"She looks exactly like him." Hermione stated, proving her point.

"Yeah but I don't think he's smart enough to figure that out. It will never cross his mind that he's the father."

"What about you, are you okay with it?" Hermione asked Ginny, wanting a completely honest answer.

"I guess. I understand that it's in the past and it's not going to happen again." Ginny said straight out.

"Mommy," Emily said interrupting the conversation, trying to figure out what they were talking about. "Are you talking about me?"

"No of course not." Ginny answered, filling in for Hermione. She was unsure if Hermione would lie to her daughter. She also did not want Harry to know that he was a father, and she knew Emily would tell him, as would any little kid.

Ginny then turned on to the next street, and down it. She pulled into the driveway of a huge white house. They all got out, Emily included, not waiting for Hermione to take her out. Hermione picked her up in front of the house, not wanting her to enter first, and really scare Harry.

"Don't worry," Ginny said with a grin on her face. "Its only Harry, for now."

Ginny led her up to the front door of the house, and opened it. Hermione walked in after her, with Emily still in her arms.

"Harry, we're here," She announced.

_AN-Well, if all goes according to plan, which it should, I will have an update up next week, most likely same day. I hoped you liked this chapter._

_Please Review_

_Kelly_


	3. Harry

_A special thank you to all those reviews out there, you guys are awesome._

Chapter 3

Harry

Ginny led Hermione up to the front door of the house, and opened it. Hermione walked in after her, with Emily still in her arms.

"Harry, we're here," She announced.

The house that the three of them had just walked into could be described in one word, huge. It looked like a nice, neat house that was clean, which seemed odd to Hermione, never seeing Harry really care about his mess. The first room which they walked into was just about empty. It had a few Quiditch posters hung up, but nothing on the floor. Hermione was shocked at how nice this house was, but there was no doubt that Harry couldn't afford this.

Hermione saw a shadow walking over to her, and she quickly put Emily back down on the floor. Harry entered the room, and engulfed Hermione in a huge hug.

"It's good to see you again, Hermione." Harry said.

Harry had looked no different then what he did those many years ago. He still had his dark black hair, and those emerald eyes, the two traits which made Hermione fall in love with him before. He seemed to have grown slightly, which Hermione thought seemed impossible since he was already much taller than her.

"It's good to see you too, Harry," She muttered.

It was true, she was really glad to see him again; she missed him and wanted him there for her. She still had the slight feelings for him, but she tried to push them aside. She knew she couldn't have any feelings for him, especially after she left him.

Harry was still very oblivious as to why Hermione had left him. At first, he was very mad at her. He thought he would never forget her. She was the love of his life, and always had a place in his heart. As much as he didn't want to forgive her for breaking his heart into a thousand pieces, Ginny persuaded him into not being mad at her anymore. He was unsure if he actually needed Ginny's help in forgiving her, because he had never been able to be angry at Hermione for a long period of time. It was a lot easier to be mad at her when she wasn't there, but now that she was, he knew he could never stay mad at her. They were best friends and had been there for each other.

"And who is this?" Harry asked, noticing the little girl standing right next to Hermione, now holding her hand.

"I'm Emily," she said, with a huge smile on her face.

"That's my daughter," Hermione said, hoping to fill in the blanks.

Harry slowly got down to his knees, so he could be at Emily's level. "I'm Harry, a good friend of your mommy's." he said. He then shook her hand, trying to entertain the young child.

"How old are you?" Harry asked her, wanting to learn as much about her as possible.

"Four," she said proudly. She showed Harry four fingers, thinking he would count them.

"How old are you?" she asked politely.

"The same age as your Mom, twenty-two." He answered.

Harry then rose up, back to standing tall on his two feet. He turned his attention pack over to Hermione.

"You're stuff arrived her late last night." He said. "I brought it all upstairs this morning. When I put it their, it sort of unpacked itself. Handy spell you just got there. You need to teach me that one someday, it would be very useful."

"Okay," Hermione said.

"First, I think Ginny and I need to give you a tour of the house, so you can get use to it. After, since I know you must be really hungry from the flight, we should go out to it."

"Alright," Hermione said.

Harry first led them upstairs. The upstairs hallway had many doors. He told them which door was which, finally arriving at where Hermione was to sleep.

"Do you want Emily to have her own room?" Harry asked, trying to make things as comfy and at-home as possible.

"No, that's alright." Hermione answered, not wanting to cause any trouble.

Harry then opened the door to the room in which Hermione was going to live for a while.

The room was medium-sized, and was made to Hermione's liking. It had a nice sized bed in the middle of the room, centering just about everything around it. The back wall was full of books, incase Hermione got bored during her stay. The most spectacular thing about the room was the ceiling. The ceiling looked just like the daytime sky. Clouds floated just above their heads, making Emily stare in awe.

"Thought you might like it" He said. "This is sort of like the room of requirements, it will change into what you want it to change into, except you don't have to walk around the room three times like we use to. Watch."

Harry pierced his eyes shut, and concentrated on one thing in his mind. In a matter of seconds, the room had some small changes. The room was now much bigger than it was before. On one side, the room expanded. It had a smaller sized bed in addition to Hermione's bed. There were also quite a few toys and such that Harry thought Emily might enjoy.

"Wow," Emily said, grinning in amazement. She had never seen magic work this way before.

"Much better," Harry commented. He then led the crew outside the door, hoping to finish the tour. He showed them everything from where the bathroom was, to where he and Ginny slept.

Harry then climbed back down the stairs and led them out the door. He drove them all into Diagon Alley, where they shared many memories of the old days. He shortly found somewhere to eat.

After the end of the day, most of Hermione's fears about Harry had disappeared. She was now not worried about Harry finding out he was a father. As much as she didn't want him to, she thought whatever happened would happen for the better. She was just very happy to be back in her best friend's presence again.

* * *

"Did you know?" Harry asked Ginny late that night. Both Hermione and Emily were fast asleep a few rooms down from theirs.

"What?" Ginny asked, unsure what he was talking about.

"Did you know Hermione had a daughter?" Harry asked, giving her more information to go on this time."

"Sort of," Ginny answered. "She just told me a long while back."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn… She didn't want me to." Ginny answered, trying to make things clear but not give away the truth.

"Why?"

"I don't know," Ginny said, hoping to end this conversation, and she did.

* * *

"Mummy, look at this," Emily said to Hermione.

It was early in the morning, too early for Harry. The new voices in the house had awoken both him and Ginny. He heard Hermione whispering in their room. He could not hear exactly what she was saying, but he knew it had to be something nice to her daughter. He had only seen Hermione around her for a day, and she could already tell she was a great mother.

Harry rolled out of bed, quietly. He threw a shirt on _(An-He already had pants on, don't think wrong)_ and walked out the room, shutting the door very silently. He knew if he left Ginny alone, she would eventually fall back to sleep. He walked down the hall and over to Hermione's room. The door was closed, so Harry obviously couldn't see what was going on, or hear them any better than he could before. He knocked on the door, not wanting to disturb what might have been going on.

"You can come in," Hermione said, still not too loudly.

"Good morning," Harry said in a gentlemen's voice. "Ginny's still sleeping. How was you're first night?"

"Not to bad. Of course Emily's always up bright and early, so I never get to sleep late anymore." Hermione said, jokingly. "Sorry if she woke you two."

"It's alright; I'll get use to it."

Harry sat there and started playing with Emily. He thought she was really cute and very fun for a little kid. He started at her, and noticed her resemblance to Hermione.

"When are you guys going to have little Harry's running around?"

"Not for a while, I think." Harry said straight out.

"Yeah, it'll be sooner than you know it." Hermione said a smirk on her face.

_Please Review_


	4. Ron

_Hey, sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've just had a lot of drama in my life. As it is now, I'm updating in school, during my midterm block._

_Thanks for all the reviews, you guys really made my day._

_There was a little bit of controversy over the last chapter, the ending. When I said that there were going to be little Harry's around, I used it as a play on words, because there are "little" Harry's running around already, Emily. So do you get it? Yeah, ha-ha_

Chapter 4

Ron

"Ron's going to be so excited to see you." Ginny exclaimed. "So won't Mum and Dad."

"When are they coming over?" Hermione asked. She couldn't wait for to see them again, since it had been so long.

Hermione was leaning up against the wall, staring out the window. Ginny, on the other hand was sitting on the couch, relaxing.

"Later tonight, I think. But Ron will probably come over later, he always drops by." Ginny answered.

"How's he doing?"

"Fine I guess. He's still single you know." Ginny said. Hermione sent her a slightly evil grin. She did not like Ron before and she knew she never would.

"Don't even think about it."

"Why not?" Ginny asked grinning.

"I just… Don't want to date anyone right now."

"Why not, Emily needs a father." Ginny said, trying to argue her point.

"She has a father." Hermione answered. "He just doesn't know he is, yet."

"GINNY!" Harry called. Harry was upstairs, showing Emily all of his quiditch brooms. Ginny slowly walked away, leaving Hermione alone.

Hermione took a very deep breath. As much as she liked being here, she didn't want to. She was afraid of being in Harry's presence. She wondered what Ginny had thought of her, and what Harry did. Hermione knew Ginny mustn't have liked the fact that Harry had a daughter, even though she told her she was. Even though she kept telling her everything was fine, and that she was okay, but Hermione knew that deep down in Ginny's heart, she hated her, hated her for having Harry's baby. And who wouldn't? Hermione knew that she wouldn't like it if Harry and Ginny had a baby together.

'_I would hate it.'_ She thought.

Hermione could not believe she had just thought that. She leaned even more against the wall, and slid down to the floor. She had now definitely become lost in thought, unsure about everything in her life. She knew that she should have just stayed away from them, far away from them.

Hermione could not believe, not at all. _(AN- Is it just me, or does that sound like a Dr. Seuss book?)_ She still had feelings for Harry, and she knew that. That was another reason as to why she didn't want to come back and see him. She knew that those feelings would once again show up, and she couldn't ignore them. But, she knew she couldn't want him. He was marrying her best friend, and that was just plain wrong. She had to forget her feelings, or else leave.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Hermione looked up, expecting to see Harry, but it wasn't. Not even close.

"Ron," Hermione said excitedly. He helped her up, and then engulfed her in another huge hug.

"Great to see you again," He said. "You look great."

"You too Ron, you look so much older."

Ron was definitely a lot taller now. She couldn't believe he had actually gotten taller; he was a giant when she last saw him. His hair was still bright, bright red, but his hair was much, much shorter.

"How's it been?" He asked her. He truly had missed her, including all the fights that had come along with her being there. He wanted to hear about every detail of her life since the last time he had seen her.

"It's been pretty good, you?"

"Alright, I can't really complain. Where's my future brother in law and my sister."

"Somewhere upstairs I think." Hermione answered.

"Oh..."

Upstairs, Ginny and Harry heard something that Hermione didn't, the slight pop that meant Ron was there. Harry decided to lead Emily downstairs, so she could meet him. Harry and Ginny traveled down the stairs, with Emily close behind them.

"Hey Ron," Harry said. "Glad you could make it." He said. He was glad that after all these years the golden trio was finally reuniting.

Emily had just made it down the stairs, and Ron noticed her.

"Wo-ah" Ron said after making a few observations about her. "She looks like a smaller, girl version of Harry."

Ginny gave Ron a huge glare, and then she decided to defend Hermione. Hermione did not know what to say, she was glad Ginny stepped in for her.

"Ron, don't be stupid. She looks absolutely nothing like Harry. That's Hermione's daughter, Emily."

"Oh…" Ron said, still observing her.

Harry stood there, now staring completely at Emily. She did look like him, a lot. He then looked over to Hermione, and notice how much she looked like her. He then thought about himself, and noticed that she did have quite a few of the same features he did.

'_Ginny said I wasn't.'_ He thought. _'Then it mustn't be I can't be.'_

'_But what if Ginny was lying to you?'_ He thought, everything in his mind trying to figure it out.

"Harry, HARRY!" Ginny called.

"What, oh sorry. What were you saying?" He said, facing reality once again.

"Rib was asking you if you wanted to go play quiditch with us, Ron and I, that is"

"Um… no, not today." Harry answered, making Ginny slightly disappointed.

"Alright, guess you three will have to be stuck here." Ginny said, trying to persuade Harry to go. She knew Hermione wouldn't go, as Hermione hated flying, and still had probably never ridden a broom before.

"That's fine. Bye, have fun." Harry said, still thinking very hard. He wanted to know if he was Emily's father, he needed to know.

Hermione got up and went upstairs. Emily slowly fathered behind her, wanting to follow her mother. Hermione knew what Harry had been thinking, and she didn't want to lie, especially not to him.

Harry sat downstairs in complete and utter silence. He wanted to know, but that would just be difficult. He didn't want to ask Hermione if he was the father, because it would just make matters very strange between the two of them.

'_Maybe he has a boyfriend.'_ He thought.

But then he figured out that that couldn't be true, or else Hermione wouldn't have came her and lived with them for these few months. Harry knew that if she had a boyfriend, he wouldn't have let her come and live with her ex for these months.

'Maybe she didn't tell him.' He thought, but once again, he knew that wasn't true, Hermione wouldn't lie to someone she loved.

Harry then suddenly flashed back to reality. He got up and walked up the stairs to see what Hermione was doing. The conversation that they had would depend on whether he asked her or not.

This time, the door wasn't closed, it was wide open. Harry walked right in, and saw Hermione sitting on the bed. Emily was lying down right next to her, coloring. Hermione seemed out of it, as much as he had been before.

"Mione," He called, trying to bring her back to reality.

"Oh, hi." She said very quietly.

There was a short silence between the two of them. Harry hated silence, almost as much as Hermione did.

"I am really glad to have you back here. I really missed you." Harry said sincerely.

"I'm glad to be back, and I've missed you to…and the others." She added quickly.

"Then why'd you leave?" He asked. He wanted to get all the facts straight. Even though he didn't have feelings for her, he still cared about her, greatly.

Hermione pondered a moment on how she would answer this question. She had no idea what to say.

"Emily, can you do me a favor?" Harry asked her.

She nodded her head yes, excitedly.

"Can you go over to the toy box? There's a small toy golden snitch in there. Can you please find it for me?"

She got up and walked over there. He knew she would be there for quite a while. He didn't really want the snitch; he just wanted to be able to talk to Hermione alone.

"Look, Hermione, we need to talk, about Emily."

Hermione had suddenly got an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew what was coming.

"Is Emily mine?" he asked.

"What?"

"Am I Emily's father? Is that the reason why you left me?"

Hermione heard fully what he had said the first time; she just didn't want to believe it. How could he have guessed this? She knew Ron did give him a humungous clue, even if he was, just kidding.

Now, for the answer. Hermione right then and there wanted to tell Harry the truth. She had the perfect opportunity. She knew he needed to know. She knew he had a right to his own child.

"Harry it's… she's…"

Hermione really wanted to tell him, more than ever before. She knew he wanted to know too. She knew he wanted a child and would care for her, even if she wasn't Ginny's. What she didn't know was Ginny's reaction if she told him. She had a feeling this might affect the marriage, and their friendship.

But then again, Emily deserved the right to know who her father was. She was going to grow up, and one day asks who her father is. What was she going to do then, lie to her then? Was she supposed to lie for her whole life?

"Harry, she is…"

_Flashback_

"_Look, Hermione." Ginny said. "Don't tell him alright. It's going to kill him, completely. He doesn't want to know. He doesn't want a child, I know that. He doesn't."_

"_But..." Hermione said, going to talk._

"_Hermione, you're not telling him."_

_(End of Flashback)_

"She isn't your child."

_AN- Please Review_


	5. Hint Of Truth

Thanks for all the reviews. You reviewers are really awesome.

Well, I am really and truly sorry about not updating in such a long time. I've been in and out of writers block and I forced myself to write this chapter, knowing you guys would want to read it, so here it is.

Chapter 4

Hint of Truth

"It isn't your child," Hermione said it again, hoping to get it through his brain. She then thought of a random lie as to prove to him that the baby wasn't his, and that it wasn't just any person off the street.

"It was my boyfriends from at home." She said.

"Oh," Harry said, blushing tremendously.

Hermione then could feel water in her eyes and she knew Harry would know something was up if he saw her like this. She ran out of the room with her face covered in her hands.

Harry sat there in confusion and disappointment. He wanted Emily to be his, for some reason. He knew she had to be his, everything just seemed right. He seemed bonded to Emily, somehow and someway. He needed her to be his, she just had to be.

"Harry," Emily said, "Is this what you wanted?" Emily handed him the small toy snitch that seemed to flutter around in his hand.

"Yes, thank you." Harry said. Emily stood their and waited for Harry to saw something else but he didn't, he just sat there silent.

There was definitely a lot on Harry's mind now, especially because of Emily. He had just wished Emily was his. He said he wanted Emily to be his, and he knew he shouldn't have done that. He's not suppose to want to have his ex's child, no matter what. Especially now, now that he's been madly in love with Ginny for the past few years and he was suppose to get married, or was he?

Harry clicked back to reality and saw Emily still standing there. He now knew exactly what he had to do no matter what, go talk to Hermione. He and Hermione always had a no-secret policy, and he really wanted to talk to her about this whole Emily situation. Now that he asked her, he knew she must have been heart broken. He also knew that if Hermione told her boyfriend about that, he wouldn't like that his girlfriend's ex thought that his child was his own.

That was one thing Harry didn't completely understand, about Hermione's boyfriend. He trusted that Hermione had a boyfriend because she told him so, but it still seemed a little fishy. Why wouldn't Hermione have mentioned it before or something? Why did she wait until this question arose?

Harry got up and decided to walk down stairs. When he got to the top he turned around and saw that Emily was following him. He had no idea what to do since he had hardly ever been around young kids in his life, but he knew he needed to do one thing, talk to Hermione alone.

"Emily, honey, can you please stay up here so your mommy and I can talk alone?" He said. It was the only idea he had that would get her to stay up there.

Emily shook her head yes.

"Thank you." Harry looked up at her and had an idea come to his head. "When I'm done talking to your mommy, all three of us will go out and have ice cream okay?"

Harry suddenly saw her eyes light up bright and a huge smile form across her face.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" He said.

"Yes," Emily said, shaking her head once again. She seemed to love ice cream.

"I'm going to go and talk to your mommy now, and we'll go and get ice cream in about ten minutes, okay?"

Emily shook her head and ran off back into the room. Harry walked downstairs and saw Hermione sitting on a chair, leaning her head on her arms. He can't believe he disappointed her that much by just asking her one simple question.

Hermione on the other hand, knew that his asking her was not the reason why she was mad at him. Actually, she wasn't mad at him at all. She was really and truly mad at herself. She couldn't understand why she had to lie to him, but she had a feeling. She knew that Ginny was afraid that if she told him, Harry might re-develop feelings for her. Or even if he didn't, the fact that he had knew that he has a child with a different woman than Ginny would make her jealous.

Hermione hated Ginny for that. She hated her because she made her lie to the one person she truly cared about and that ever really loved her. She knew that she might never forgive Ginny for making her lie, but Ginny wasn't really the one holding her back, their friendship was. Hermione knew she could go and tell Harry when ever she felt like it, Ginny wasn't controlling her.

Hermione saw Harry coming down the stairs and just wanted to become invisible. Her she was making a life long decision, whether to tell him or not. If she told him she knew it would destroy her and Ginny's friendship, Harry and Ginny's wedding, and maybe even ruin her and Harry's friendship.

"Harry… I need to tell-"

"Look, Hermione, don't even talk. I need to talk to you first. I want to say that I'm sorry, sorry for everything. I shouldn't have asked you that, it wasn't right for you or your boyfriend. It just wasn't fair. I should have known that if you were to become pregnant with my child that you wouldn't have left me. I should have trusted you with that."

By now Hermione was almost back in tears. Harry just described exactly what she did, and told her that he trusted her to never do that. She should have never done that. But now, there was no turning back, she had Harry's child without him knowing, and now he's going to hate her for that.

Harry took Hermione's hand in his, and she immediately turned her face toward him, unsure of what he was doing. All she knew was that if Ginny caught her with Harry's hand entangled in her hand, she wouldn't like it.

"Hermione, I am really and truly sorry. Now please, will you forgive me?"

Harry got down on one knee and anyone who walked through the door would think he was proposing. But really, all he wanted was Hermione to forgive him. She had no idea what to say, but she knew that she had to say-

"Yes, yeah, of course I do Harry." Now, all Hermione wanted to do is hope and pray that he would forgive her for what she did.

Hermione went to open her mouth but Harry immediately closed it.

"I'm treating you and Emily for ice cream, and you can't say no." Harry said.

He got up and went upstairs to go get Emily. He carried her downstairs over his shoulders, and Emily screamed and yelled with excitement.

"Oh gosh, what have I gotten myself into now?" Hermione muttered silently to herself.

Harry came over and grabbed Hermione with his free arm. She was caught by surprise when he did this, not quite sure about Harry holding her arm, it might cause controversy as he is suppose to get married. He walked all three of them to the car, where they drove off to a muggle ice cream shop.

* * *

Ginny and Ron walked inside of the house full of dirt and sweat. Both of them were still in the clothes they just played qudditch in, which were full of dirt from this competitive game. The mixture of dirt and sweat made the part of the house which they were in smell bad.

Ginny took a quick glance around the first floor of the house and noticed that something was missing. Well, this thing was more like someone. The house was so quiet that Ginny knew that no one was occupying it at this moment. She knew that if Hermione and Emily were home, there would be a lot more noise than the dead silence that filled the room now.

"Hello?" Ginny called back.

When there was no response she knew that she was right. There was no way any of them could be home, they were never this quite. She quickly scanned the bottom floor of the house and noticed that there was no note left for her. She thought this was odd as Harry always left and told her where she was going. This had suddenly gotten Ginny mad. Harry left her without telling her, and disappeared with his ex and their child.

"I wonder where they are." Ginny asked, not exactly showing him that she was mad about this.

"Probably going to get a DNA test," Ron said sarcastically.

Ginny, on the other hand, was not in the mood for his sarcastic little jokes.

"Ron, don't be stupid," she said giving him a strong voice and another one of her evil glares."

"What?" he said. "You have to be blind if you don't think he's her father."

"WHAT? The look nothing alike."

"What are you talking about? Emily looks exactly like Harry, except with a little bit of Hermione thrown into her."

"Ron, you need to stop saying that." Ginny said, letting all of her anger come out this time. "NOW! Because you obviously know it's NOT TRUE!"

"Bloody hell, what the hell is with you're rotten attitude? Are you afraid Harry might make a move on Hermione while there alone?" Ron said, bring up his attitude level.

He ran up stairs making a lot of noise. He knew what he just said to Ginny made her completely mad. Well, she was now going to be more than mad, he knew she was going to be pissed. Even though Ron said those things out of anger, he believed them, completely. He knew that Ginny was jealous of Hermione, and bloody hell, he would be to if it was him in that position.

* * *

"Wow that was the most fun I've had in a while." Harry said when they opened the door to the front door.

"Here honey," Hermione said, giving Emily a napkin. She was the only one left still eating her ice cream. Well, she really wasn't eating her ice cream; she was more like trying to. By the time she had eaten any of her ice cream half of it was all over her face.

She was enjoying it though, so Hermione let this be.

Ginny, hearing the word honey being used ran into them. She was afraid that Harry was calling Hermione honey or vise versa. When she saw that it was only Emily and Hermione, she felt completely stupid. She didn't know why she had this jealous rage over them, and it was her best friend and her fiancé, she knew she shouldn't have.

"Where have you been?" Ginny asked, with a change in her tone. "I was so worried about you."

Ginny walked p to Harry and stood on her toes to give him a kiss. This made Hermione shiver and feel sick. Ginny noticed her and quickly documented this in her head. Emily felt this odd movement and looked up at her mother.

"Sorry." Harry said, immediately turning away from her and changing the subject. "Where's Ron?"

"Upstairs, we had a little quarrel earlier."

"That figures," Harry muttered very softly. "I'll go upstairs and talk to him."

"Harry. No wait," Ginny said. She grabbed onto his hand forcing him to come back over to her. She obviously didn't want him to go and talk to Ron.

"No Ginny, I'm going up there to talk to our best mate. I don't need you too going and getting into fights and ruining my friendship with him."

Harry charged upstairs wanting to know the whole story. Whatever Ron and Ginny were fighting about, she didn't want Harry to know. He didn't like this at all, there was suppose to be no secrets in there relationship. To him, it seemed like Ginny was breaking his trust, or at least, ever since Hermione came.

"What's up mate?" Harry asked him.

When he went upstairs Harry knew exactly where to find him. He knew that Ron would be sitting on the bed in the guest bedroom, gazing out the window. This is exactly what he did every time he and Ginny fought, and it became completely predictable.

Ron didn't answer him; he just turned his head away from Harry even more. If he had to turn his head anymore, his neck would end up cracking and stop.

"Nothing, it's stupid." He said. He knew never to try to stay silent with Harry, because he would always be forced to talk.

"Why are you and Ginny fighting?"

"Because…" Ron said, thinking of a way to answer this politely. "I accused you of being Emily's father."

"Oh," Harry said, processing this all in his head. "That was pretty stupid. After you said that to us, I asked Hermione."

Ron had a sudden shocked look appear on his face and he became interested in what Harry was saying.

"She told me it wasn't. She has a boyfriend."

Ron stood there, still confused. He couldn't believe his suspicions were wrong.

"Yeah I know, shocking. For me it was to. I actually thought she could have been mine."

"Are you jealous that whoever that guy is father's Hermione's only child?" Ron asked, not actually thinking about what he was saying.

"No," Harry said clearly. He seemed to have jumped on the question a little too early, before Ron even finished. This made Ron have a feeling that he was jealous.

"Why? You would be a lot more jealous of him then I would be." Harry said, trying not to sound like he was.

"Why would I be jealous of – Bloody hell Harry, lets just drop this okay?"

"Fine," Harry said, glad he didn't have to lie anymore.

* * *

"Hey Ginny, can I talk to you for a second?" Harry asked. He had now just rejoined them downstairs. Ron had apparated home, still not sure if he actually wanted to talk to Ginny again.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked. If Ginny and Harry were talking, Hermione didn't want to be left alone.

"He went home. Ginny, in the kitchen," Harry commanded. Hermione was surprised by his tone of voice and was afraid something would happen.

Harry walked over to the kitchen door and let Ginny walk in first. He then slammed the door behind himself, leaving Hermione left alone in suspense. All she knew was that something bad was going to happen, and she wasn't sure what.

"Can I ask you a question?" Harry asked. This was actually more or less of a rhetorical question, because whether she said yes or no, Harry was going to ask her anyways.

"Why have you been lying and keeping so many secrets from me?" Harry asked, his anger rising.

"What?" She asked. "What are you talking about?"

Ginny was now completely lost. She wasn't sure if Hermione had told Harry, and she was completely afraid that she did. She now felt like she could melt. She felt really hot and she could feel her face blushing. Her blood in her veins started pumping faster and faster. What did Hermione tell him?

"Well, first you somehow FORGET to tell me Hermione had a daughter."

"I didn't think that it was that big of a deal" Ginny said, coming up with a stupid excuse.

"And then," Harry stared again, his anger still completely intact. "You forget to tell me that Hermione has a boyfriend. You've been making me look like a complete idiot in front of her. What do you want us to not be friends anymore? If I remember correctly, it was your idea that I should forgive her, so why are u making me look so bad when I'm with her?"

"She has a boyfriend?" Ginny asked, forgetting all of the other stuff he said. The rest of the stuff was true, and she just didn't want to answer it.

"Yes, she does. You know she does. You keep making me look like an idiot around her. Do you have a problem with the fact that we use to date? I've noticed a complete change in you attitude ever since she's been around, and I don't like it!

I can also tell there's something you're lying to me about Ginny. You're hiding a big secret from me that I don't know about it. I'm going to find out about it if it's the last thing I do."

With that Harry stormed out of the kitchen and went upstairs to his bedroom, where he slammed the door. He didn't want to be around Ginny, not with the way she was acting now.

Ginny walked out in the kitchen mad as she has ever been. This was her first real fight with Harry and it was all because of Hermione. It made her mad that she could have just ruined her wedding all because she had to have Harry's stupid daughter.

_(AN- sorry, that was a little harsh, but sometimes when your wrapped up in the heat of the moment you say and think things that you wish you've never had.)_

"YOU," Ginny said strongly when she walked through the door.

Hermione heard most of the conversation because they were yelling throughout almost the whole thing. She knew exactly what Ginny was coming to say and that she was going to be really mad at her for telling Harry she had a boyfriend.

"You… Why did you tell Harry, all this, this stuff? Why did you tell him you had a boyfriend without telling me first?"

"Well, it seemed like a good lie, at the time. Plus Harry believed it." Hermione said, trying to argue her point. She didn't actually just tell Harry that so they could get into a fight.

"Hello, your supposed to keep me informed so we always know that were on the same page. We don't want to slip up on this lie. You have to tell me everything you tell Harry."

"I just thought…I didn't think," Hermione said still trying to defend her actions.

"That's right, you didn't think!" Ginny then stormed up the stairs, most likely going to find and make up with Harry.

When the coast was clear, Emily looked up at her mum and waited for her to talk. Hermione didn't seem to talk; she just stared out the window. Emily then decided to climb up on her lap, and wait for her to say something.

"What hun?"

"Mommy, do you have a boyfriend?"

"No I don't…"

"Do you like daddy?" Emily asked her.

Hermione was astounded by this question. How did Emily know who her father was?

"Who's your dad?" Hermione asked her, trying to see if she had actually figured this out.

"Harry, he's my dad. And you like him but he likes that Ginny lady. I don't really like her mommy."

"Its okay honey, she's been acting really weird lately. But how did you get a crazy idea like that?"

"I dunno, I think you do."

"No honey, I don't like Harry, and Harry's not your father."

Hermione leaned her head back as far as she could go. She hated lying to everyone, especially Emily. She just couldn't stand it anymore. What she couldn't understand was how her 3 year old figured everything out so quickly, when Harry couldn't even figure it out yet.

AN- alright, wow, this chapter was a lot longer than I expected. I dragged out all the details, but it's finally getting good, right. It will not take as long as it did for this update, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to update this weekend, which was my plan.

Please Review

Kelly


	6. Looking

_Thanks for all those reviews. They're really appreciated._

Chapter 6

Looking

"Hermione, WAKE UP!"

Hermione was startlingly awoken by someone screaming and pounding at her side. She wasn't sure who it was and couldn't detect who it was by their voice, because she was half asleep. She had a feeling it was Ginny, because she knew Harry would never try to wake her up in this way. Whoever it was, she hoped that they didn't wake Emily, but she knew they must have.

"What Ginny?" Hermione asked without completely opening her eyes.

"Harry's gone." She said, disappointedly.

"What?" Hermione said, jumping up in her bed, not exactly sure she heard her correctly.

"Yes, Harry's gone. He wasn't in bed when I woke up this morning."

Hermione thought for a moment. She didn't know why Harry would leave, he usually tried to resolve situations like this, not just leave them.

"He must just be somewhere down stairs." She said, still thinking.

"I checked down there, and all throughout the house, he's not here."

"What about your parent's house or somewhere with Ron?" Hermione said, trying to come up with different possibilities.

"Neither. Now _GET UP_, we have to find him."

Hermione looked past Ginny and noticed that Emily was most definitely awake. She was still lying in bed, being very quiet and pretending to be asleep so that she could listen in on the conversation. Hermione watched her for a little longer and could tell she was awake, because her feet were slightly moving around the bottom of her bed. Emily had pretended to sleep plenty of times before to listen in and watch her mother.

"What about Emily?" Hermione asked.

"She can go to my mum's house while we try and find him."

"Ms. Weasley won't say anything about it?"

"No of course not."

"Then can you leave me alone so I can get dressed?" Hermione said with a slight bit of attitude.

She knew Harry was fine and just wanted some time alone, away from Ginny. She was starting to get on her nerves, a lot. Plus, if Harry wasn't alright, Hermione would be able to tell, somehow. She could always tell when something was wrong with him, even before she came back to him for the wedding. It must have been something that grew along with there long lasting friendship.

Ginny quietly left wanting Hermione to get dressed as fast as she could. She slammed the door hoping this would help to quicken her pace. Unfortunately, it didn't. Clearly Ginny didn't understand how hard it was to get a toddler dressed.

Hermione got dressed very fast, but when she got to Emily, she knew that would be harder. Of course she had to struggle with her to get each piece of her outfit on. She did get them dressed a lot faster than normal, but it wasn't good enough for Ginny.

"What the _HELL_ took you so long?" Ginny asked. She was very frustrated and wanted Harry home.

Hermione heard Ginny swear, she looked down at Emily. Knowing her, she would run around repeating to everyone what Ginny just said. That was the reason why Hermione never swore, or at least not in front of Emily. She glared at Ginny, and then picked up her daughter.

Together they apparated to the Weasley House. This time she didn't have time to think about the feeling that Emily might have gotten from this way of transportation. All she wanted to do was get away from Ginny and her lousy attitude.

The two of them arrived at Ginny's old house. She already apparated off somewhere else, in hopes of finding Harry very soon.

Mrs. Weasley was standing right inside the door of the house pacing the floor awaiting their arrival. She seemed to already know the whole story and Hermione figured she must have filled her in earlier.

"Are you sure you don't mind watching her?" Hermione asked, being polite. She knew that it would be very hard for Mrs. Weasley to watch Emily, since she was so young and all. Emily was like every other child, she loved to run around and have her own little adventures. Now that Hermione thought about it that was another trait she developed from Harry.

"Of course its fine, dear, it's always fine. Plus, it's for my Ginny and Harry. They are a really cute couple and I can't wait to see them get married.

"Yeah I know," Hermione said softly, lying like she had been since she had first gotten back to the wizarding world.

"Do you know what their fighting over?" Mrs. Weasley asked her, trying to get some gossip. "Ginny didn't tell me the reason just that they were fighting.

"I don't really know. Hermione answered, still lying. What was she going to tell her, that they were fighting over her and Emily? That wouldn't look or sound good.

"Do you think you'll find him?" she asked.

"Of course we will." Hermione said with no hesitation. She knew Harry like the back of her hand, or at least she used to. She had a few ideas of where he would be, and she had a big feeling she would find him there.

"I better get going." Hermione said. She picked up Emily and gave her a hug and a kiss in which Emily gave back in return.

"Bye Mommy."

"Bye honey."

Hermione placed her back on the floor from their hug and then quickly apparated off.

She apparated to the first place that she had the biggest feeling Harry would be. Unfortunately, this place had a certain spell cast around it that wouldn't let anyone apparate directly into it. Instead, she had to apparate to the next best and closest place, Hogsmeade. Yes, the place Hermione believed Harry to be in was at Hogwarts. She arrived at Hogsmeade but had no idea how to get to Hogwarts from there on. She knew that if she had to walk across and go through the forbidden forest, it would take hours. She always didn't remember any of the ways Harry used to use to get there back in their third year. She started to walk around Hogsmeade unsure of how she was going to get to Hogwarts fast.

Hermione began to day dream, trying to think of a way to get there. When she did this, she walked right into someone. This was very unusual because Hogsmeade was very quiet and people were scarce. She believed that this was because most of the people that were usually here were sitting in class, over at Hogwarts.

"Sorry," Hermione said after pumping into the very tall man.

"'Ermione?" he said. Hermione knew that voice; she had heard it before, plenty of times before. This was a very long time ago, but she still could recognize it and the man's accent without even looking up at him.

"Hagrid," She said. She looked up and noticed that it was him. She quickly embraced him in a huge hug; she hadn't seen him in years.

"What are you doing 'ere?" he asked her.

"I'm looking for Harry have you seen him? I believe he may be at Hogwarts." Hermione said.

"No, I haven't seen him in awhile either. But then again, I haven't been at "ogwarts all day either." He answered.

"Great," Hermione said sarcastically. "I was hoping you would have seen him, that way I wouldn't be looking over here for nothing and wasting so much time. Do you know of a way to get there?"

"It would take a while to walk over there. Hours even." Hagrid then tried to think of a way for Hermione to get over there much quicker. "What about flying?"

"F…Fl…flying?" Hermione said, choking on her own words. She had always hated flying ever since her first year at Hogwarts. She also didn't like heights to much either. There was only one other time she had flown, and that was Harry back when they were in school. Now she was afraid to fly, especially alone.

"Let's go get the broom. Madam Rosmerta has one. "

"But…" Hermione stammered.

"You do want to find Harry right?"

"Yeah," she said, quickly shutting her mouth. She had to ride on it to find Harry. It was for Harry.

"Come on then." Hagrid demanded.

"Madam Rosmerta doesn't really like me to well. Why don't you go get it and ill wait here?"

Hagrid ran over to the Three Broomsticks to fetch the broom. He was back very quick, much to Hermione's dissatisfaction.

"'ere 'ermione." He said in his usually jolly voice.

Hermione took the broom out of his hands and stared at it blankly. She didn't really know what she was doing. Well, she did but she didn't. She watched Harry, Ron and Ginny mount brooms a thousand of times, so she knew what she was doing, just not how.

"Wait," Hagrid said, stopping her before she got on the broom. "Don't fly over here. Since your not use to riding a broom, I don't want you to get hurt and fly into any of these shops. Go get on it over there near the clearing."

She shook her head in agreement and said a slight thanks. The truth was, Hagrid telling her about moving made her even more worried than before. Before, she was just worried about being up so high, now she had to worry about crashing into buildings too.

She walked over to the clearing ever so slowly and hesitantly. She eventually got there. She put the broom out by her side and slowly got on it. She took a deep breath and trying to get rid of some of her nerves. She kicked off the ground and the broom started to rise.

"_Just don't look down_." A voice in her head said. Actually, this was Harry's voice; he had told her this many times before.

The broom was still rising higher and higher. Hermione made a visual image of what Harry did to start flying. She now started copying everything he did in order to go faster, higher or lower.

In no time Hermione was right in the yards of Hogwarts. Now came the tricky part, landing. She once again copied what Harry would have did, having observed him so many times. The broom suddenly started dropping down lower and lower at great speed. Hermione braced herself, never wanting to let go of it. She was afraid that if she let go of the broom a little, or gripped it less tightly, she would fall straight off. She wondered how Harry ever flew with one hand or none during a qudditch tournament.

The broom had finally reached the ground. It hovered around very slowly, waiting for Hermione to get off. She got off and she was still shaking from the fearful ride.

She brought the broom to Hagrid's hut and dropped it off, unsure if she would need it for there ride home. She was hoping that she didn't need it because she still hating flying, even after she didn't have a bad experience flying.

Hermione traveled to the entrance of Hogwarts and walked through it. She wasn't sure exactly where Harry would be. She had a first thought that he would be at the qudditch pitch, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't be. Harry had never gone to the qudditch pitch before when he was mad, so why would he start now? Plus, Harry liked to fly because he was good at it, and when he was angry he would have a hard time concentrating and controlling the broom.

She walked through the first corridor and passed the Great Hall. Everything had looked so different, yet exactly the same from the last time she had been there. The halls were completely silent and Hermione knew the students must have been in class, because of the stillness of the air. If students were free, and able to walk around it would be hectic.

She started climbing up the stairs. The first place that she decided to look was way upstairs, on the seventh floor. After walking up many stairs, she passed quiet a few quiet classrooms. She took a peak inside and saw many students intently watching the professors which were standing up in front of the classroom. On the other hand there were a few students sleeping and not paying attention whatsoever. This made a grin form on her facing, reminding her of all the good times the golden trio had back at Hogwarts.

"It's a little past here," Hermione told herself.

She kept walking and found the place where she had went so many times back in her fifth year. This room had so many memories for her, Harry and Ron.

Hermione turned the handle to the room. She opened the door, revealing the blank room.

_AN- Please Review.  
(Nobody told me before I put the wrong chapter number for the last, 5th, chapter.)_


	7. Trouble

_Thanks for all the reviews._

Chapter 7

Trouble

The room in which Hermione had just entered was exactly how he remembered it, empty. There was no sign that anyone had been in the room whatsoever. She was hoping that when she had opened the door that Harry would be sitting there, that opening the door would reveal that he was okay, but it didn't. Or she wished that the opening of the door would expose another door, the one in which Harry was enclosed in. Unfortunately, she knew neither of these things was going to happen. She knew there was no way that Harry was going to be there, or that the door was just going to automatically show up. She examined the room, having no idea how she was going to find Harry or if he was even there.

Hermione walked around the room, thinking about finding Harry. After she had made three encompasses, she looked up hoping the door in which Harry had walked through would appear. But it didn't, it still didn't.

Hermione turned and walked out of the room, still unsure about how she was going to find him. She knew he had to be here, he just had to be. Making a small decision, she decided to walk back into the room, giving him one more chance to be there, and then it was off to searching in other places. She reopened the door and walked into the once empty room.

Instead of being abandoned, as it usually was, it wasn't. Someone was sitting in the corner of the room- Harry, obviously. He looked up when he heard the sound of the door opening.

"I knew it was going to be you who found me." Harry said flatly. "Ginny would have never thought of looking here. I was just getting ready to leave."

"Maybe you should stay so we can talk." Hermione said. She walked over to him and took a seat right next to where he was, showing that she was alert and ready to listen to everything he had to say, whatever that may have been.

There was a short silence, in which Hermione broke, knowing Harry needed someone to talk to.

"What's wrong Harry?"

"It's just that," Harry started. He looked over to Hermione and saw her contently waiting for her to talk. She was the only one he could ever find comfort in, and be able to confide in with any secret.

"I'm just not sure I'm doing the right thing." He said sadly. "I'm not sure if I should marry Ginny. It's very hard for me to trust her and talk to her, like we always do. But isn't that what a relationship is suppose to be built on, communication and trust? Sometimes I wish I was back together with you, things were so much easier, so much better."

"Well, I always do." Hermione muttered.

"Sorry I didn't here that" Harry said, wanting her to repeat what she just said.

"Nothing" Hermione sat for a moment and contemplated on what advice to give him. She wasn't sure if she wanted to drive him back to Ginny, or keep him away from her. As much as she hated it, she had the biggest feeling that he believed Ginny was the one for him.

"Look, Harry, it seems like your just getting cold feet, I think you're just afraid to get married."

"No, I'm not, I know I'm not. I've thought about this for a long while now, I just never told anyone. I was just hoping that when Ginny and I got married, everything would be different. That's the whole reason why I purposed to her, I was hoping things would take a turn for the better. But ever since you got here, Ginny's been acting really different.

Hermione took a deep breath, knowing things with Harry and Ginny couldn't get any worse. Maybe if they broke up, she and Harry could get back together. The only problem was Harry seemed to be blaming the whole thing on her. Not all of it, but most of it. Even though she hated it, it was true. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have thought about breaking up with Emily. Worse of all the whole fight was over Emily, even though he didn't know that.

"Now don't think this is all your fault." Harry said, after examining Hermione's facial expression, something he learned to read ever since he was young. "It's all mine. I rushed into things way to quickly, just because I was hoping things would change. Did you know me and Ginny have only been going out for a little over five months?"

Hermione looked at him, clearly confused. "Really? Ginny told me you guys have been going out for quite a while now, a year and a half I believe she said.

"See, another lie." Harry said, getting angrier by the minute.

"Harry," Hermione began. He turned his head away from her, knowing exactly what she was going to say. Hermione saw this and grabbed his hand and held it tight, knowing this would make him listen to her.

"Harry, I think you need to go and talk to Ginny. At least talk to her. I know she cares about you, and loves you, a lot. And she wants to marry you, but if your unsure of that, then just talk to her. Tell her what you just told me; just change it around a little." Hermione said with a grin on her face, making Harry smirk.

"She will change." Hermione said confidently. "She's just in a rough point in her life. I mean she's about to get married, who wouldn't be a nervous wreck! But if you don't want to get married, and then tell her that you want to wait a little while. If she really and truly loves you, she will understand, and let you postpone or cancel the wedding. Talk to her, I know she'll listen to you."

"Yeah I guess" Harry said, agreeing she was right, like always

"So let's go talk to her."

She got up first, with her arm still connected to his. Struggling, she helped him up. When he finally had risen, he engulfed her in a huge hug.

"Thanks Hermione, thanks for always being there."

He brought her even closer to him, and held her tight, never wanting to let go.

"What the hell am I doing?" Hermione whispered to herself.

They let go, and turned to leave the room. For some weird reason, though, Harry never let go of Hermione's hand, making her feelings that she tried so hard to make disappear, reappear. She was hoping that no one saw them, because then people might have getting the wrong idea, and she really didn't feel like dealing with anyone right now.

Harry and Hermione walked out the door, still hand in hand. Together they walked through the still-dead-silent halls of Hogwarts.

"Hold on." Harry said, just before they had made it to the door. "How'd you get over here? You can only apparate over to Hogsmeade."

"Oh yeah," Hermione started blushing. "I flew over here."

"You? Fly?" Harry asked her, strangely.

"Yes, and it wasn't really that fun."

A smile suddenly formed across Harry's face. "You flew on a broom for me? But you've never flew before. Wow, I guess I should feel special."

"Stop flattering yourself." Hermione said, smacking him on the arm playfully.

"How was it?"

"Quite appalling if you ask me."

"Would you do it again?" He asked her.

"No"

"So you did only do it because of me..."

"Hermione smiled, still slightly blushing. "Yeah, I guess"

They had finally finished making their journey to the door of Hogwarts. Harry, with his empty hand, opened the door so they could make it back home.

"Harry!" A strong voice said from outside the door.

"Ginny…" Harry said, very disappointedly. At this moment he was having a good time spending time with Hermione, and he really wasn't looking forward to seeing Ginny.

She examined Harry, making sure he was okay. When she saw his hand entwined with Hermione, a sudden stab of jealousy hit her.

Hermione quickly let go of Harry's hand, feeling completely guilty. She did not want to start any trouble, and she knew this was going to. Ginny looked over at her and gave her a hard look, making her feel even worse than before. She walked forward, leaving Harry and Ginny alone to sort out there troubles. All three of them started walking through the grassy fields of Hogwarts.

Hermione slowly stopped while the couple started walking ahead, Harry noticed this and stopped walking, turning towards her.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked her, seeing her walking away from them.

He was disappointed that she was leaving him alone with Ginny, but he was more disappointed that she was leaving period.

"I'm going to go see Hagrid. I'll meet you both back at your house. You two need some alone time and I still have to go pick up Emily."

She turned and started walking in a different direction.

"Hermione," Harry said following her, and trying to stop her from leaving him.

"You know what you have to do." She said to him. "Do what your heart tells you to. Follow your heart; it always knows the right directions."

She then continued her journey across Hogwarts. She actually was never planning on going to Hagrid's; that was just a lie. She really just wanted to be alone, so she could think things through. She had a lot on her mind, and a lot she thought she could clear up if she was alone.

Harry stood watching Hermione walk into the distance. He looked over at Ginny, and noticed that she could tell that he was staring and admiring Hermione. He blushed immediately; his fiancé had just caught him 'drooling' over his ex. He now decided to do what Hermione had first suggested, in hopes of making things better.

"Ginny," He said, making her come out of her trance.

"Yeah"

"I'm sorry for this. I was just really angry and frustrated. I need to be alone and have some time to think. I'm really sorry."

"That's okay," Ginny said in a much happier mood. "I forgive you."

Ginny grabbed Harry and embraced him in a huge hug. Harry was first shocked at this, but hugged her back hesitantly.

"What the hell am I doing?" Harry muttered to himself. "I'm not at all following my heart."

_AN- I finally think I got my life back on track. So the updates will now be much quicker. Sorry, I've noticed that it takes me about a month per update, and that's crazy. Thanks for reading and  
Please Review._

_Kelly_


	8. Overheard

_Reviews are good for the heart, soul, and well, me! Lol Thanks for all of them.They're greatly appreciated._

Chapter 8

Overheard

Ginny finally let go of Harry, making him completely happy. Harry didn't know what to do or what to think anymore. There was only one thing he did know, that he did not want to be around Ginny. She was really starting to agitate and aggravate him.

"Ginny," He called out suddenly, closing out the long term silence.

"Yes, Harry," Ginny answered sweetly.

"I'm going to stay here at Hogwarts for a little while." He said, making up an excuse to be alone and without her. "I just miss the atmosphere here and I haven't been here in such a long time. I'll meet you at home, okay?"

Ginny walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"Okay," she stated.

She turned and left him, just like he wanted. She turned back everyonce and a while, wondering if he was still there.

* * *

Hermione arrived at the exact place that she wanted to go to- the lake. Maybe it wasn't the exact place she wanted to go to, but she really didn't know where she wanted to go. She let her feet guide her through the yards of Hogwarts, and she somehow ended up at the calm and refreshing ocean, where she use to spend so much time alone with Harry, and Ron.

Hermione had sat down at the edge of the lake. She was close enough to see the waves move up and down and hear the wind blow against the water. She did sit far enough away, though, so she didn't get her feet wet.

She picked up a stone that was covered in sand right next to her. Unsure of what to do with it, she rubbed it against her fingers for quite a while. With full force, she pushed the stone out of her hand and it smacked the lake's water, disturbing it from its calm and peacefulness.

"I hate you Ginny," She screamed.

After throwing that stone, she felt better than she did before. It seemed to help her a lot with her frustrations and aggravations. Spotting another stone right next to her, she picked it up and threw that one into the clear water too.

"I hate you for taking Harry away from me."

She grabbed another stone and threw it. "And I hate you for making me lie to Harry."

* * *

Harry had made it over by lake, one of the most refreshing and beautiful places at Hogwarts, or at least he believed so. From where he stood, all he could hear was the wind, the birds and the fish. The closer he got to it, the more of a noise he heard. He could tell that this wasn't just his hiding spot, because saw a person's shadow sitting down right by the lake. He stayed hidden for a few minutes, incase the person didn't want him there. 

"And I hate you for making me lie to Harry." The person screamed out very loud and very clear. _(AN- This happened at the exact same time, that's why it's repeated twice. She didn't scream it twice. Okay?)_

The voice sounded very familiar to Harry, yet completely different from the person he believed it to be. There was a huge lot of anger that was torn out in that voice that he wasn't sure he ever heard of before. But still, he knew exactly who it was, and who it had to be… Hermione

He stayed exactly where he was, hidden and away from her. He did not want her to lash out at him, which she seemed to be doing very well to the lake. He also knew that she wanted and needed alone time, because he could tell from the look in her eyes before and after Ginny had arrived. He wished he knew why, and what was going on between them. But according to Hermione, and from this scene he had just over looked, he concluded that her life was much more screwed up than his was.

He watched her shadowy figure that shown onto the sand. He wished that he knew what was going on her mind, and that he could fix it, just like she did to him so many times before.

"Hermione," he said, coming out from his hiding spot after quite some time.

She sat there for a minute, not exactly hearing him. She hoped that he wasn't behind her; she didn't want him to be.

"Harry," she said, more like asked. She was completely shocked that he had found her. "How long have you been there?"

Her face had now turned ghost white, she was as pale as she ever could be. Harry was unsure of why this would happen, but he just continued to answer her question.

"For a while now." He answered, quickly and shortly. "Hermione, we need to talk."

Harry grabbed her hand, which frightened her even more than the fact that he was there. She jumped up off the ground, not knowing what he was doing. She had a feeling that he had been there to long, and had listened to everything she had said.

She pulled her hand away from his. She did not want to know what he had overheard, and, quite frankly, she was afraid of what he might have to say if he did over hear her. She turned away from him, getting ready to leave. She dashed off as fast as she could, without making it too obvious that she was running away from him.

Harry took a step forward, but immediately placed it back adjacent to the other one. He knew he was not to follow her as he already made her angry with him. He knew that if she wanted to talk to him, she wouldn't have ran away from him. He also knew that if he chased after her, it would just frustrate her even more.

He squatted down and soon took a seat on the ground. He knew he had a lot of things he had to think about, especially since he had just overheard Hermione, and made her run away from him. He stared off into the lake, tracing every wave with his eyes.

He had been so confused nowadays, and he completely understood why. He just wasn't sure how everything had come so confusing, so chaotic. To him, everything was so clear before, he knew exactly what was going on every moment of his life. He was supposed to get married to Ginny, because he loved her, or at least he thought he did. But now he wasn't even sure about that anymore.

Harry knew that he shouldn't have listened to what Hermione had to say when she thought she was alone, but she did give him some valuable information. He now knew that Ginny was lying to him, and pulling Hermione into the lie. But what were they lying about, and why was Ginny forcing her to lie about? What was that important that neither of them could tell him?

Ginny had been lying to him for sometime now, and he really wasn't sure why. He thought they had an honest relationship, but he knew different. There was only one time when Harry had lied to her, but that was back when they were at Hogwarts. Maybe she was just trying to get revenge on him for all those lies that he told her.

If it was Hermione who was keeping a secret from him, things would be completely different. He wouldn't have been trying to figure out what she was hiding from him, because she trusted her. He knew that she would tell him when the time was appropriate.

That was it. He had now figured out something about Hermione's and Ginny's lies, they were all based in a secret that they didn't want to tell him. When Hermione kept a secret from him, that's the only time she lied. She would never lie about anything else. Ginny, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

* * *

"Hermione, it's so good to see you." Mrs. Weasley said when Hermione apparated into the middle of her house. 

"Mommy," Emily said, running as fast as her little legs could carry her over to her Hermione. She picked her up and Emily gave her a big hug. "I've missed you so much, mom."

"I've missed you too," Hermione said to her daughter.

"Did you find Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, stopping Emily from talking. She was really anxious to her what was going on with her future son-in-law.

"Yes," Hermione said quickly.

"Is he with Ginny?"

Hermione first opened her mouth to say yes, because he was suppose to be. But then she shut it when she thought about seeing him by the lake. "I'm not sure."

"I guess we better get going," She said to Emily, not wanting to play "21 questions" with Mrs. Weasley.

She bent over and scooped Emily up into her arms.

"Make sure you hold on tight this time." Hermione told her.

Emily had now tightened her grip onto Hermione. Her arms were around Hermione's neck, and she began to choke her.

"1…2…3…"

Hermione and Emily lifted up off of the ground. Emily had once again tightened her grasp around Hermione, afraid of falling off.

Within a few seconds, which felt like much longer, they had arrived at Hermione's destination, Harry's house. As much as she didn't want to go there, it seemed like that was the only place she had to go. She was just hoping that Ginny didn't bite her head off.

After opening the door, footsteps were heard running down the stairs. Hermione knew that it was Ginny, thinking that he was Harry who had arrived home.

A small smile spread across Hermione's lips, she was imaging Ginny's face when she noticed that he was her, not Harry.

"It's you," Ginny said with much hate in her tone of voice. "Emily, go upstairs, NOW!" She commanded.

Emily looked over at Ginny, tears forming in her eyes because of the roughness in Ginny's voice. Hermione saw this and became very mad at Ginny.

She opened her mouth to start to argue with Ginny, but then closed it. She got down on her knees and gave Emily a hug. She then wiped off her tears and asked her very politely to go upstairs.

Emily very slowly walked up the stairs, tired and scared. To her, it seemed that mean lady was a witch. She had been pushing her and her mom around a lot lately. She wished that she could sit down at the top of the stairs and listen to their conversation, but she decided just to obey her mother's wishes.

"You are going to be one hell of a mother." Hermione muttered, Ginny not hearing her.

"What the hell were you doing with Harry?" Ginny asked, angrily.

Hermione could tell that she was jealous about this whole situation and was blowing this completely out of proportion.

"You told me to find him, and I did."

"How did you know exactly where he was?" She asked suspiciously.

"How could I not? I've only known him for over ten years."

"You don't act like it."

Hermione took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. "What, do you not trust him?"

"Well, I dunno. He did sleep with a whore like you before, so I don't know if he'll do it again."

Hermione looked over at Ginny, turned, and walked upstairs, quickly, but not making it clear that she wanted to get away from her. She didn't want Ginny to know that this made her this upset, and that there were actually tears streaming down her face.

* * *

_(Once again, same time. This is when they were arguing…)_

Harry looked down at his pocket and reached inside of it. He pulled out his keys from it and found the correct one. He placed it inside the lock, and started to turn it.

Before he got to completely unlock the door, there was a loud yell that he heard from outside coming from the inside of his house. He wasn't quite sure who was talking, or what they were yelling about, but that it suddenly became quiet. He opened the door to find Ginny sitting on the couch, and Hermione no where in site.

_AN- An Update, quick, wow. Please Review_

_Kelly_


	9. The Discovery

_Schools over! That means more updates, because I have nothing to do over the summer. Thanks for the reviews. Thanks for all of you that continue to read my stories, no matter how long it takes me to update._

Chapter 9

The Discovery

Hermione lay on her stomach, on top of her bed, watching her daughter, who was trying to master coloring. She was in the corner of their room, coloring on paper with crayons that her mother had bought when they still lived in the muggle city. Emily had drawn and colored three different pictures which she brought to her mom, who told her they were beautiful. After drawing those pictures and coloring them in, Emily's mind had stopped soaring, and she was unsure of what to draw.

"Why don't you try and write your name?" Hermione suggested.

Emily picked up a green crayon and rested her head on her arm, trying to figure out how to print her name. Hermione got up and walked over to her, knowing she would have a hard time because she never wrote her own name before.

Slowly, Emily lowered her hand, and began scratching on the paper, in attempt to write out her name. Each letter came out messy, but it was clear enough for her mom to read. The letters read out:  
E

M

I

L

Y

P

O

T

T

E

R

Hermione looked down at the paper, stunned. Her face became pallid and feverish. She had completely forgotten one huge thing about Emily- her last name.

When Emily was born, she gave her Harry's last name, knowing that part of him would live on in Emily forever, even if he didn't know it. Back then, she had no idea that she would ever be meeting Harry again; Hermione thought that they would live in their separate lives forever. She never imagined that she would visit him again and actually be hiding that he in fact was her father. If Harry ever noticed this, he would definitely know he was Emily's father. Why else would she have his last name?

Hermione took another glance at the paper, trying to conclude how Emily knew that Potter was her last name. She had no idea that Emily had known her last name; she just wanted her to write her first name, which would have been a big enough accomplishment for her.

"Very good, honey," Hermione told her. She turned and sat back down on the bed, where she was before she asked Emily to write her name.

Footsteps were heard crawling up the stairs, someone was coming. Hermione flew off the bed, over to Emily. She took the paper that had Emily's name written on it, folded it, and placed it in her pocket, hiding it from any other person in the world.

"Hey," Hermione said briefly. She took a big relief breath, she was glad she was able to hide the paper before Harry entered. She sat back down on the bed, and Harry joined her immediately. Emily stayed exactly where she was, content with drawing and coloring.

"What happened once I left?" Hermione asked him instantly, incase there was anything he wanted to ask her. She wondered why he wasn't answering him, but then noticed that her question was very vague.

"Is everything okay with you and Ginny?" she asked, making her question easier to understand.

"Yeah," Harry said, reluctantly.

"Are you still getting married?" she asked him, hoping he would say no.

"Yes, I guess."

Hermione looked over at Harry and took note of the disappointment that was swept all over his face.

"You didn't even talk to her, did you?"

"No," Harry said gravely. "I didn't know what she would do if I told her that I didn't want to get married to her."

"Yet," he added quickly, not wanting Hermione to get suspicious.

"So you're still getting married to her, even though you don't want to?" She asked him. She didn't understand why he wouldn't talk to Ginny; she obviously wasn't the right person for him. Maybe Hermione was the only person who could actually see that.

"Yes," Harry said, wishing he didn't have to say that. He still didn't want to get married to her. "I really don't have a choice. I think the wedding's in month- a month from today."

Just then Emily had finished another one of her fabulous drawings and, like always, she wanted to show it off to her mother, knowing she would always be very proud of her.

"Hey mommy, look, I wrote my name again!" She said excitedly.

Hermione once again became very pale and nervous; this was it, Harry was going to learn everything from this little piece of paper. First, she agreed to finally letting him know, but then she decided that this was not the way for him to get told the news.

Grabbing the paper from Emily, Hermione took a quick glance at it, and acknowledged that it did say exactly what she feared; Emily Potter. She folded it up so it would fit into her pocket, and then squished it in there with the other one.

"That's very nice honey," Hermione told her. "Why don't you go and draw a new picture?"

"Okay," Emily said, her imagination soaring now that Harry was in the room. She walked back over to where her paper and crayons where located.

"Anyways," Hermione said, still shaking from the fact that Harry almost found out her secret through Emily.

"The tables turned on you now Hermione." Harry said jokingly. "What's going on between you and Ginny? You aren't really on good terms with her anymore, are you?"

"Why would you think that?" Hermione asked him, trying to act like there wasn't anything going on.

"At Hogwarts, she kept giving you evil glances. And today, I heard you too fighting before I came through the door."

Hermione fought with herself for a minute, debating over whether she should tell Harry the truth or not. She took a deep breath, and decided she would, since it was for the better.

"Ginny's afraid I'm going to take you away from her."

Harry looked over at Hermione, surprised; this was not the answer he expected. If he knew she was going to say that, he wouldn't have asked her. But, that did seem to make since.

"Really?" He really didn't understand why Ginny would think that, unless his feelings for Hermione were obvious.

"Yes. I also think that's the whole reason why she was getting mad at you too."

"Oh," was all Harry managed to say. Stunned was exactly how Harry felt. He was now starting to believe that maybe Ginny could really see his feelings for Hermione, and that wasn't a good thing.

"You need to go talk to her." Hermione commanded. "You need to go and tell her that you don't have feelings for me."

Harry looked down at the floor, not wanting to meet her glance. "I… I can't."

He immediately blushed and began to sweat; he just pretty much told her that he still had feelings for her.

"Mommy," Emily said, trying to get her attention. Hermione looked up, giving her what she needed.

"Look what I drew." Emily said, more excitedly than the last time she had drew, when she wrote her name.

Hermione hoped and prayed that when Emily turned the paper over to reveal it to them, it didn't contain her full name, with the word Potter at the end of it.

"Let's see it then" Harry said, glad the pressure was off of him.

Emily got up and brought the paper over to them. She held it up proudly so they both could see it clearly.

The picture that she drew did not have her name on it, much to Hermione's gratitude. On the paper was a broom, obviously for quidditch, and a snitch. Of course, it was not drawn to perfection, but it was drawn to the toddler's perfection.

"I've got an idea." Harry told Hermione.

She looked over at him, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

"A quidditch game?" She blurted out.

Harry looked up at Hermione, very confused. "What?"

"Oh, sorry," Hermione said. She knew she was beginning to freak him out. "What's your idea?"

"No, how'd you know what I was going to say?" He asked her.

"I don't really know." She answered. "But why a quidditch game?"

"Because" Harry thought for a moment "It will get all of us to be friends again, you and Ginny mostly. I can't have my fiancé and my girlfriend fighting."

Hermione looked over at Harry, ready to question why he called her his girlfriend. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by Emily.

"Mommy, I want to play quidditch too." She said excitedly.

"We're not going to play quidditch." Hermione informed her.

This disappointed both her and Harry. Harry, though, knew that he would be able to change her mind.

"Why not?" He asked her, putting on one of his saddest faces ever.

Hermione didn't answer right away, because she actually didn't have an answer. She just didn't see a point in quidditch game anyways.

"Come on Hermione, please." Harry looked at her with a very pleading face. "For me! It'll be fun!"

Hermione sighed; she hated how much she always gave into him, but she never seemed to have a choice.

"Alright," Hermione said showing no emotion in her voice. "But I can't fly.

"Yes you can. You flew for me before."

"Yeah but."

An idea sparked in Harry's head. "We'll go there early tomorrow, that way you can practice."

Hermione shook her head, giving up her argument.

"But what about Emily?" Hermione asked, thinking about her daughter getting hurt.

"She can ride with me on one broom."

"Okay."

_AN- An update, after a long week. I will keep my word about more updates in the summer, I promise you that. There won't be any next week though, as I will be out of state for the whole week of July 4th._

_Before you go and review, which I please ask you to do, I have a question to ask you. Since we now know two characters will die in book 7, who do you think they will be?  
Kelly_


	10. Practice

_Thanks for all your reviews, and your opinions on the question I asked you. I really believe that if Harry does happen to die, that Ginny will to. For some reason, I have a feeling history will repeat itself, since Harry looks like James and Ginny looks like Lily. It would be very sad if they died though.  
I can't believe I'm on chapter 10 already!_

Chapter 10

Practice

"What are you doing lying down in the same bed as my Mommy?" A small little voice questioned curiously from across the room.

"Your Mom's sleeping," A man's voice said, that was very close to Hermione. "I'm waiting for her to wake up."

"Do you want me to wake her up?" the small voice asked.

"No, no, just let her sleep."

The body lying next to Hermione moved around in the bed, ending up moving closer to her. She felt a sudden change of temperature, as his body heat shifted into her body. As comfortable as she was laying this close to Harry, she knew this just wasn't right. He was married, well, almost. Yet, she still didn't open her eyes to let the world know she was awake.

She had been awake for a while now, listening to Harry and Emily converse. She was also enjoying the memories that had arisen about Harry lying next to her way back when, and thoughts about what it might have been like if he knew that Emily was his father.

Half of her wanted to wake up, and half of her didn't. If she woke up, Emily, Harry and herself would all have to go play quidditch. Now, this really didn't seem like a big deal, except the fact that she didn't want to play, mainly because she was afraid of heights.

Hermione had no idea why Harry had suggested a quidditch game anyway; she had a feeling that it would make Ginny even angrier, since she would be alone with Harry almost the whole day.

A smile crept across Hermione's facial features. She would get to be alone with Harry, with no interruptions, and no Ginny there to start lashing her out. Maybe she would finally get to talk to Harry, about everything.

Hermione slowly began to move her body, as if she had just wakened up. Her eyes flashed open, proving to both Harry and Emily that she was awake. She blinked her eyes and then wiped them, as if the life was blinding her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to get up just yet, but she couldn't stand lying still any longer.

"Finally, you're awake," Harry said enthusiastically.

Hermione cracked a small grin and then sat up in the bed.

"Yay," Emily said excitedly. "Now we can go and play!"

The small grin on Hermione's face vanished.

"Did Ginny agree to play?" she asked Harry.

"Of course she did."  
Hermione went into deep thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to get out of this.

"How are we going to play with just the three of us?" she questioned.

Emily sat next to Hermione on the bed, and began counting on her fingers. After a few seconds, she had a feeling her mother was wrong. "Mommy, that's four, not three."

"We'll yes but-"

"There's going to be more than just the four of us." Harry stated. "Ron, Fred and George are coming to."

"Oh"

* * *

Hermione nudged closer to the window, she was really enjoying the view. Even though she was high up in the air, she still enjoyed looking down through the glass, and looking at all the now very small buildings. Through the corner of her eye she spotted on huge building, with many smaller ones attached.

"We're almost there." Harry told the two of them. Hermione already knew this, but to Emily, this was a surprise.

Harry took his hand off of the steering wheel, and placed it on the seat. His finger tip brushed against Hermione's soft hands, startling her. Instead of moving his hand away from hers, he placed it right on top of her hand. She wasn't sure what he was doing, but she knew that he shouldn't be doing. But, who was going to catch them holding hands when they were so high up in the sky. Within a few minutes, Harry entwined his fingers with Hermione's, not even realizing what he was doing. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but she had a feeling she was overreacting.

The car soon started dropping lower and lower, bringing them closer to Hogwarts grounds. Emily was in the back, glued to the window, watching everything that passed them by, whether it was a bird or another car. With every second she watched, the more excited she had become. Hermione was really surprised with how quiet Emily had been the whole ride; she was expecting her to be bouncing off the walls.

The car had now made it inches above the ground. Harry pulled the car forward a bit; bringing them closer to the quidditch pitch.

The car then hit the ground, smoothly. Harry shifted the car into the right gear, putting it into park. He took the car out of the ignition and turned to a beaming-with-joy Emily.

"We're here," he told her.

Emily pulled the handle of the car door, ready to jump out of it, but she was suddenly stopped. There was only one problem, the door was locked.

"You have to let me unlock the door first," Harry said, grinning.

He unlocked the doors and Emily got out of the car in a hurry. She was in awe; this was her first time being on an actual quidditch pitch.

Harry walked over to the trunk and took out the two brooms which had been held captive inside of it. He passed one of the two brooms over to Hermione, who was now standing right next to him.

Emily walked over to the trunk and peeked inside, checking to see if there was another broom inside of it that Harry had got to take out. Much to Emily's disappoint meant, there wasn't.

"Where's mine?" she asked both Harry and her mother.

"You should feel special." Harry told her. "You get to ride with me.

"Yeah, about that," Hermione chimed in. "You better be careful with her. No doing tricks or anything to catch the snitch."

"Yes Hermione," Harry said, with a sinister grin on his face.

"Seriously," Hermione said to him, with no humor found on her face.

"Yes, Hermione, Don't worry about it. I would never let any harm come to your daughter."

"I know, I'm just really worried. It's her first time flying."

"Well, it's yours too."  
She began to blush. "Not exactly."

"We still need to teach you how to fly," He told her.

"I'm surprised that you didn't bring a whole bunch of padding and protective gear with you." He said sarcastically.

"Of course not, I'm not that stupid." Hermione said. She reached into her pocket and threw some shrunken protective gear into the car's trunk, so Harry couldn't see it.

"All we need to do is to get you use to flying." He told her. "Since you already know how to fly."

Harry started walking away from the car, towards the middle of the pitch. Hermione followed after him, with her little shadow following close behind.

He began to mount the broom, but then turned to Hermione when he saw her and jumped off.

"You get on first," Harry told her. She reluctantly began getting on it, putting one leg over the broom, and having the other dragging down. She then found balance on the broom, making sure she didn't fall off.

"Move up a little"

Hermione look up at him worriedly, but then scooted up. Harry sat down on the broom behind her, deciding that flying with her would probably make her more comfortable with the whole situation.

"I'll be here so you won't get hurt." Harry told her, trying to give her mental support. "I would never let anything happen to you. Now, are you ready?"

Hermione shook her head yes, even though she was completely sure if she was ready or not.

"Put your hand over there." Harry said, pointing to the place where he wanted her to position her hands. He then picked her hands up in his, and placed him in the exact place where he wanted them to be.

"Now, when I count up to three, we are both going to kick off the ground. But remember, this is a firebolt, it will go much faster than the broom you are going to use."

She shook her head once again, she already knew this.

"1"

Hermione gulped… This was it she was finally going to fly.

"2"

She wasn't even if she wanted to fly. What was she doing anyways?

"3"

Both Harry and Hermione kicked off the ground into the air, and the broom began to hover. Hermione was still very nervous about flying, and Harry could tell. Every few seconds she would glance down towards the ground, realize how high she was, and begin to shake and almost lose her balance. Harry knew that he had to find a way to get her accustomed to the height level, or else she would never be able to fly alone.

"Relax," He told her, hoping this might help ease her nervous. Unfortunately, it didn't.

Thinking for a moment, he got an idea in his head. Harry decided that to make Hermione feel safer, he would have to show her that he would never let go off her, or let her fall. Harry placed his hands on top of hers, placing her in a half-hug, sort of. He pressed his body against her, trying to make her feel more protective. Hermione, though, was getting more nervous by Harry's, no where near more relaxed.

He increased the grip on her hands to the broom.

"I've got you Hermione; I'm not going to let you fall." He told her again, anticipating one of these times it would stick in her head.

Agreeing, Hermione shook her head, but didn't look back at him, incase that motion might cause her to lose balance and fall off.

He then pushed down onto Hermione's hand, making the broom go much faster. Hermione almost screamed, and definitely clutched the broom much tighter. After a minute or so of fast riding, she realized that she didn't need to grip the broom so tight, she was safe up there, as long as she didn't move too much, or lose her balance.

"Look Harry," Hermione said grabbing his attention. She then turned her head as much as possible to look at him. "I'm doing it! I'm actually flying, and I'm not scared!"

"Yeah," Harry said, completely lost in thought.

He could not take her eyes off of her the whole time they were up in the air and that was beginning to scare him. She looked so beautiful; he had to admit, with her hair blowing behind her in the wind. But what he loved most about her was her smile, the one that seemed to light up the whole world. Right now, her smile was huge, showing Harry that she was proud that she accomplished something she never thought she would be able to do.

It was right then and there that he learned something about himself; he still loved Hermione, just as much as he did before she left, of maybe even more. In fact, he had realized that he never stopped loving Hermione, ever; he just tried to cover up his feelings for her by dating Ginny.

Overcome with emotion, Harry had no time to thing, and for once in his life, he listened to his heart. He moved his face forward, as close as he could to Hermione's She looked up, and Harry did what he thought was right, he brushed his lips up against hers, enclosing her lips in a kiss. At first, she was intrigued by the kiss and began to deepen it, but then slowly remembered something.

As much as she wanted to kiss Harry, she broke away from him, and instantly glanced down. It was exactly what she suspected, since she and Harry were always caught doing something in the wrong place at the wrong time; they weren't alone. Ginny had arrived at the field, and was standing next to Ginny. She was watching them, or at least as far as Hermione could tell she was.

"Not now Harry," Hermione told him disappointedly. When speaking to him, she did not look back at him, she did not want to look into his emerald eyes and see the look of sadness within them. She was already in enough trouble with Ginny; she didn't want to be in anymore. At least now Ginny had an actual reason to be jealous of her.

"I see," Harry said, noticing his fiancé had arrived at the quidditch pitch. "Do you think she saw us?" He asked, feeling really bad, he had just cheated on his soon to be wife. Even though he didn't love her, he knew that cheating wasn't the best thing to do.

I hope not," Hermione answered, feeling awfully guilty.

She immediately leaned forward, bringing the broom racing down to the ground.

_AN- Yes I am alive, don't worry. It took me a really long time to make this and the next t chapter, but I did it. Please Review!  
Kelly_


	11. Teams

_Thanks for all your reviews._

Chapter 11

Teams

Everyone had now arrived at the Quidditch Pitch. The four Weasleys, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny had all arrived at the same time, when Harry and Hermione were practicing flying. This made Hermione worry, now there were more chances that someone might have noticed them, even though they were so high up. She was also afraid that more than one of them could have watched them; therefore there would be more witnesses.

Hermione suddenly chuckled, she was making it sound like she and Harry murdered someone, all they did was kiss, that wasn't a crime. Everyone around her now started staring awkwardly, unsure of what was so funny. Harry, on the other hand, had a feeling he knew what she was laughing at, and couldn't help the smile that formed on his face.

Ginny glared at Harry, as if he and Hermione were sharing a secret that she wanted, or needed to know. Harry cleared his throat, in hopes of clearing any tension.

"Are you guys ready to play quidditch?" Harry asked the crew, in a happy-go-lucky tone.

"Yeah!" Emily said very loudly and excitedly. She was clung to her mother's side, as she always was. She wasn't really shy around any of these people; she was use to them by now.

"Uh…Harry…" Ginny said, interrupting him from his happiness.

"Yes, Ginny?" Harry asked politely.

"You forgot to make two different teams."

"Don't worry, I didn't forget." How stupid did she think he was? "Honey…" Harry added quickly, not wanting her to get jealous of Hermione, or get suspicious that something was going on between the two of them.

"I was thinking that we could choose two captains, and have the captains choose the players that they want on there team." Harry said. He had this whole game planned out, and he was making sure that nothing could go wrong.

"Like the muggle way of choosing teams?" Hermione asked. Because she was a muggle and all, she knew that this was the way most kids choose teams.

"No," Harry said. He had a straight face, and she believed him. "We do that in the wizarding world too," He commented, smirking. He knew that he had just gotten her, and she laughed, feeling stupid.

"Who do you think should be captain?" He asked.

"I think you should be captain, Harry," Hermione said, nominating him. She looked directly into his eyes, but immediately broke the stare, afraid that someone would realize she was flirting with him, which definitely wasn't a smart thing to do when his fiancé was standing right next to him. She decided that she needed an excuse for telling him he should be captain, incase someone did realize she was flirting with him.

"I mean, Harry, you basically organized this whole game, so why shouldn't you be captain? You deserve it, more than everyone else here." Hermione said, hoping her excuse sounded good enough.

"Everyone else agree?" Harry asked. He didn't want to make himself captain if only one person wanted him to be.

"Of course," Ron answered. "You should definitely be captain, mate."

"Okay then," Harry said. He walked in front of the group, looking at all of them.

"Oh yes," He said remembering something. "Emily's co-captain with me. We are partners, so what ever I do, she has to do. Okay?"

Everyone shook there heads. They knew Emily was going to have to be partnered with someone, they just weren't sure who.

"Emily, come up and join me then. This is where the captains stand." Harry told her.

Emily looked over at her mother, as if she was afraid to leave her. Hermione gave her a slight push toward Harry, and she walked off toward her. Harry picked her up, happy that he was going to have some bonding time with this little girl.

"Who else wants to be captain?" Harry asked the other five. They each thought for a minute, unsure of whom they wanted to be the other leader.

"What about Ginny?"" Fred suggested, volunteering his little sister.

"What?" Ginny asked in shock. She was expecting to be on Harry's team, not his opponent.

"We think you should be the captain," Fred started.

"Because you're going to be the bride in a few weeks." George said, finishing for his brother.

Ginny's eyes lit up, it seemed like whenever someone mentioned her wedding, she became overjoyed. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to become more worried, or at least ever since Hermione came back to him.

Hermione looked back at Harry, and could see worry fill up in his eyes. She knew that Harry didn't want to get married, and even though he never told her exactly why, she had a feeling she knew. She knew that Harry didn't love Ginny, and that he maybe never loved her. As much as she hated to admit it, she had a feeling that the only reason he went out with Ginny was to get over her, which didn't seem to work really well. How did she know this all? Maybe, it was because she had known him for so long, she was able to see right through him, and figure out all his secrets. But truly, she had no idea how she knew.

"Hermione"

"What?" Hermione asked, losing her train of thought and clicking back to the real world. She had no idea why they called her name, since she was far off in a different world.

"Was Hermione Jane Granger actually daydreaming?" Fred joked.

Hermione looked over at Harry, and saw the huge grin on her face. She was hoping that he would fill her in while she was off on cloud nine.

"Hermione," Harry said, trying not to laugh, "you're on my team.'

"I guess that would make since," Hermione said, realizing that was what they were about to do before she started day dreaming. She walked over and stood right next to her daughter, who was still in Harry's arms.

"Ginny, your pick." Harry said to his fiancé, who was standing next to him, but quite a few feet away.

Ginny thought for a moment, but quickly made up her mind.

"Fred" Fred walked over and joined his sister.

"Ron," Harry said, not needing anytime to think.

"I guess that means you're on my team, George," Ginny informed him. She was happy that she didn't get stuck with her brother, the one that wasn't too good at quidditch.

"Now that we've got that settled, its time to go over some ground rules." Harry began, ready to start his lecturing. He moved away from his team and faced everyone.

"We all have played quidditch before, besides Emily." Fred said smartly.

"So why do we need to go over ground rules?" George finished.

"Because," Harry said, "It's much different playing with a full team than playing with three people."

"Alright then," Fred said, realizing Harry actually had a good point.

"You can go on," George said.

"Okay. The rules in this game of qudditch will be different, a little different than a normal game of qudditch." Harry began, for the second time. "This is mainly because there are only three people per team."

Emily looked over at Harry, confused. "Harry, there's four people on our team."

"Yes, there is."

"You can continue Harry," Hermione said, a little embarrassed that her daughter just interrupted him for something that wasn't important.

"Okay." He began, again. "In this game, there will be no keepers, mainly because you will need the players for scoring, and defense, not for blocking the goal post. Each player will have to take care of all the tasks, not just have one task, like catch the snitch, or block the bludgers." Harry thought for a moment, trying to figure out what else he needed to tell to the crew.

"Oh yes, the bludgers, I almost forgot. Instead of the normal 2 bludgers, there will only be one, making it easier for you to keep your mind on scoring. It also makes the game much safer.

"This game of quidditch must be safe." Harry stressed. "Especially since Emily is playing. Do I make that clear?"

"Yes Harry." Ginny said, sick of the lecturing.

He thought for a minute, trying to make sure he didn't forget anything. "Teams separate." He ordered. "And captains get your team excited and ready to play!"

Harry, Hermione, Emily and Ron walked away from Ginny, George and Fred. Harry looked over at Emily, who was still attached to him. Her eyes were still full of joy, and she was still looking around the pitch, in awe. They all stopped walking, figuring they were far away from the other team.

"I guess I'm supposed to give a pep talk," Harry said disappointedly, to no one in particular.

"Yeah, that's what you told yourself there mate," Ron said sarcastically.

"I really don't have anything to say… Just have fun during the game." Harry was hoping he could do better than that. "It doesn't matter whether we win or lose; this game is all about fun."

"Right," Emily said. She lifted her right arm, and placed in the center of the circle which the four of them formed. She was patiently waiting for someone to place their hand on top of hers, and was wondering why no one was.

"Right," Harry said, making her happy. He moved his hand and placed it over Emily's.

"Right" Hermione followed, placing her hand on Harry's and her daughter's.

"Definitely," Ron said, finishing off by placing his hand on Hermione's.

"1…2…3..." Harry said.

The four of them screamed, "Let's play," after Harry counted. Emily was very happy, and proud that she thought of doing that.

"Go get your brooms, and let's get his game started." He yelled excitedly.

They all walked over to the cars, ready to mount their brooms. Harry walked fast, trying to catch up with Hermione, who was way far ahead of him. He fell behind when he was putting Emily up on him, giving her a piggy back ride.

"Your daughter is so cute." He told her, when he finally caught up with her. He then continued to walk over to the car.

"Yours is too," Hermione muttered.

Harry then turned around, remember something.

"Hermione?"

"Yeah..." She answered.

"We need to talk later, okay?"

"Yup," Hermione said, knowing exactly what he wanted to talk about.

_AN- A lot faster of an update, right? I need some help with something. When there are 2 people together, it's called a duo, 3 is a trio, but what's 4? I've been racking my brain, and can't figure it out._

_Please Review  
Kelly_


	12. The Game

_Thanks for all your reviews, and thanks for answering my question, I guess I should have paid a little more attention in math class._

Chapter 12

The Game

Team Golden Quartet was already lined up in the middle of the pitch, with brooms in arm, ready to start the game. This team consisted of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Emily, and had brainstormed their team name by using the adults' old nickname The Golden Trio, as the basis. Ginny's team, Sphinx Siblings, was still huddled in a circle, discussing their plans and different plays. Ginny was talking this way too seriously, and wasn't in this for the fun.  
Finally, Sphinx Siblings were done with their meeting and walked toward the middle of the pitch. They separated and each faced a different opponent, Ginny facing Harry, Fred facing Ron and George facing Hermione. Every player mounted their brooms, and was ready to start their game.

"Okay, on the count of three, we will begin this game." Harry told the players.

"1"

"Um… Harry," Hermione said, interrupting him. He turned to her, but was afraid that she was going to back out of playing the game.

"Yes, Hermione"

"Don't you need balls to play this game?" She asked him.

Harry looked back at her strangely, but immediately cracked a smile. Hermione blushed and giggled, realizing what she had just said.

"Harry I meant-"

"Don't worry I know what you meant. I have all of them in my car, I just completely forgot about them." He said, realizing that his _girlfriend_ might have just considered them flirting.

Harry slowly got off of his broom, being extra careful. He did not want anything to happen to Emily, who was also sitting on his broom. He grabbed Emily, and pushed her back on the broom, making sure she was balanced.

At first, Harry was going to take her off of the broom, afraid she was going to kick of. But then, he decided she wasn't going anywhere, as she couldn't even reach the ground. Harry knew to make sure that she was balanced correctly on the broom, though, or else she might have done a nose dive into the ground.

He turned around and headed toward the car. He knew exactly where the case of balls was, inside the car's trunk.

Emily was very excited to be alone on the broom. Without even realizing it, she began to bounce up and down, hyper ness overcoming her. Her feet hit the ground, and she was suddenly released up in the air. The broom flew higher and higher, until it was dozens of feet in the air.

Hermione looked up at her daughter, who was having fun being a flying. At first, she was going to kick off the ground and try to save her herself, but she had a feeling she wasn't going to be able to help her daughter. She knew that she wasn't experienced enough to catch up with the broom, even if the person riding it was only a four year old.

"Harry!" Hermione screaming, knowing that the best quidditch seeker would be able to do something.

Emily heard her mother and swerved back around, facing her mother, proving that she knew what she was doing. She knew her mother was worried about her, even though she had total and complete control of the broom.

Harry heard Hermione, and immediately turned around, knowing something must have happened for Hermione to scream like that. He looked straight up in the sky, and noticed Emily flying. His stomach suddenly turned, and the same worriedness that filled Hermione filled him too.

He ran over to where Ginny was located on the broom. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he had to get Emily. Harry pushed Ginny off the broom, and jumped on it. She fell off the broom and hit the ground, smacking her back against it.

Flying faster and faster by the second, Harry chased after Emily. She, on the other hand, started lowering herself, getting closer to the ground. Harry was a couple of feet away from her, when she made a quick U-turn, which was very unexpected. Emily placed her feet on the ground, stopping the broom completely. She positioned herself exactly where she had started, in between her mother and Ron.

Emily looked over at her mom, with a huge smile on her face. Hermione looked over at her, with an angry and scared look on her face. Her frown quickly turned into a smile when she saw her daughter, how happy and proud she was of herself, just like she was a few hours ago.

Her daughter got off of Harry's broom, and walked over to her. Emily captured her in a huge hug, knowing that she was proud of her.

"See mom, I can fly!" Emily bragged.

"I never said you couldn't," Hermione answered.

There was never a doubt in Hermione's mind that her daughter wouldn't be able to fly. She always knew she would be amazing at it. Flying was in her blood, just like it was in Harry's.

"You're really good at it too, Emily," Harry said, dismounting Ginny's broom.  
"Yeah, you even gave Harry a run for his money," Ron said, surprised at the young girl's quidditch talent.

* * *

"And Harry passes it over to Hermione, who is in the clear, but not for long. Ginny chases after Hermione. Oh no, she's on her tail, and Hermione's broom wont go any faster. She checks around, looking to see which of her teammates is open. She raises the quaffle to throw it over to-umph."

Hermione had just took the quaffle, and chucked it over at Ron, catching him off guard.

"Ron, you're not the announcer," Hermione said sarcastically.

Ron looked around, and noticed that no one was blocking him, probably since he hadn't been passed the quaffle to much during the game. He charged toward the goal posts; he was unstoppable. He took the ball and threw it into the undefended goal post.

"YEAH!" Ron screamed excitedly. "And the Golden Quartet is ahead 70 to 40."

* * *

"Harry," Emily called, trying to get the man's attention that was sitting right behind her on the same broom.

For some reason, he didn't hear her, and she wasn't sure why. All she knew was that she had to get his attention, and fast. She smacked his arm softly, since it was right in front of her.

"Harry," she said, louder than before. "The snitch is right there." She picked up her arm and pointed out what looked like thin air. What Harry was amazed at was the fact that she was barely holding on to the broom, and wasn't nervous at all. This made him come to the conclusion that her father had to have been a wizard, because there was no way she would have this much qudditch talent if her dad was muggle.

Harry charged straight ahead straight toward the snitch, as fast as his firebolt could go. The two of them were in the clear while they began to chase after the snitch. But of course, that wasn't for long. Ginny immediately chased after them. She knew that when she saw someone rush over into what seemed like thin air during the game of quidditch that they were obviously chasing after the snitch.

He turned back around, and whispered into Emily's ear. "Emily, reach you're hand out and grab the snitch."

Emily shook her head in agreement, but Harry had much doubt. He had a huge feeling that she wouldn't be able to catch it, she was only four, and it was flying around fast. Harry still tried to have hope, and he believed in her.

"I know you're after the snitch, Harry," Ginny said competitively. "I know its right in front of you."

Harry turned his head back, looking straight into the eyes of his fiancé.

Emily grinned wisely. She had a plan, a plan that would finally get Ginny back for being mean to her mom. She reached her hand out and snatched the snitch, having no problem whatsoever. She grimaced; she had just caught her first snitch.

"No it's not; the snitch isn't right in front of us." Emily stated, matter-a-factly.

Ginny became pallid when she looked up ahead and noticed that the toddler was correct. But Ginny knew that she couldn't have been wrong, she just couldn't. She sped over to where she claimed she saw it.

"Where's the snitch?" Harry whispered in Emily's ear, in hopes of continuing the chase to find it.

Emily opened her hand, revealing the small golden ball that was just enclosed in it.

"Yeah!" He said excitedly. "Go Emily," He said, making her proud once again. Harry gave her a high five, as he too was proud of her.

"And the Golden Quartet wins the game." Harry screamed making sure every player on the pitch heard him.

"What?" Ginny asked, very confused. She raced toward Harry and Emily.

"How dare you catch that snitch," Ginny screamed at Emily.

"Relax Ginny," Harry told her, trying not to lose her temper. Ginny turned and started to fly back to the ground.

"Like father like bloody daughter," She said angrily.

"Excuse me?" Harry asked, not hearing her, and unsure if she was talking to him.

"Nothing," She replied.

_AN-Like my team names? Okay well, I know I didn't use that much imagination, but I tried. Next chapter there well be more Emily/ Harry bonding, as I know most of you guys know. And don't worry, I didn't forget about the kiss, that will definitely play a role in the next two chapters._

_Please Review_

_Kelly_


	13. Feelings

_It's been a while, a long while, to long. So, here I am, updating, finally._

_Thanks for all your reviews._

Chapter 13

Feelings

"Meet me up in you're room in five minutes," Harry whispered softly to Hermione.

He climbed up the stairs quickly, yet quietly not wanting to cause a commotion. Ginny was in the kitchen, and she was the main reason why he was being so quiet. Turning the knob on Hermione's bedroom door, he noticed that Emily was napping on her bed. He hopped that his and Hermione's little chat wouldn't wake her.

Harry first sat on her Hermione's bed, and began patiently waiting for her to arrive. Within a few seconds, though, he became very nervous. That's right; the man who defeated Voldemort couldn't even talk to his best friend. He suddenly got up and paced the floor, using this action as a way to shake off his nerves, not that it helped in anyway. He wasn't completely sure why he was so nervous, or maybe he did.

Harry wasn't sure what he was going to say to Hermione. He didn't know whether or not to tell her the truth or not. How was he supposed to tell the woman he loved that he loved her, yet he was getting married, and he couldn't stop the wedding?

The door to Hermione's room opened, scaring Harry half to death. He quickly looked up and stopped dead in his tracks, knowing that he must have looked like an idiot.

"You can sit down you know," she told him. She knew that he was awfully polite, but she also know that he would sit down if he was alone for longer than five minutes.

Harry walked over to her bed and sat at the corner of it. He was trying his best to relax and calm down, but he wasn't doing very well at succeeding.

"You can come and sit down too," Harry commanded. He was trying to buy his time in order to figure out exactly what he was going to say to her.

Hermione walked over to the bed and sat on it, trying to get comfortable. She wasn't sure why things were suddenly so awkward between the two of them. Deep down, she did know why. She knew it was because they had kissed, which meant that Harry cheated on his fiancé, who he really didn't love.

Without wasting anymore time, Harry scooped up Hermione's hand in his, holding it securely. Using his other hand, he started to rub it, trying to calm her down since he knew he was about ready to tell her something shocking.

"Hermione Jane Granger," Harry started. He wasn't looking directly into her eyes; he was avoiding them, and staring down at her hand which he was still gracefully stroking. "How many years have I known you now? Many, many years. It seems like forever."

He took a deep breath, not exactly sure where he was going with this. "Our friendship has had its ups and downs; first we we're friends, then lovers, now friends again. Its like we've been on one of those muggle roller coasters, and we keep going up and down hills. And, I think we're about ready to start traveling on another one."  
He looked over at her, and her facial expression, trying to figure out what she was thinking about. All he could recognize in her face was pure confusion.

"There isn't much that I regret about our relationship over these many years, but there are a couple of things. I regret the fact that out relationship has ended. I regret not chasing after you when you left me. I regret not asking you to marry me, even though we were so young."

Finally, Harry made eye contact with Hermione. He took the hand that was rubbing hers, and placed it gently on her cheek.

"What I'm trying to say is I love you. I guess I never really stopped loving you, and I never will stop. I need you Hermione. I love you."

Harry brushed a tear that was rolling down Hermione's cheek.

"Harry, I love you too."

He moved his hand down to her chin, and brought her face up against his. He brushed his lips against hers, but waited for her to respond. Soon they began kissing, weak at first, but becoming more passionate with every second. This didn't last for long, though, as Hermione pulled away, knowing this wasn't right.

"Harry, I need to tell you something." She said.

She knew that after Harry had just spilled his guts to her, that she needed to tell him the whole truth too.

"You can tell me anything Hermione," Harry told her.

"Well, the truth is Em-,"

The door to Hermione's room opened, making both of them jump. In stormed Ginny, who was in search of her boyfriend.

"Harry, there you are, I've been looking all over for you," she told him.

Hermione looked over at Ginny, and then back at Harry. She immediately released her hand from his. There was no way in hell that she was going to get caught up in between their relationship; she had already dealt enough with that.

"Ginny, will be right down in a second. Can we just have a minute alone?" He commanded.

"I guess," she said disappointedly. She excited the room, and Harry waited to her the stairs creak, making sure she wasn't eavesdropping.

"Is this all going to be a secret?" Hermione asked him, desperately needing to know. "Are you going to break up with Ginny or not?"

"I can't, or at least not yet. Come on, we better get downstairs."

Harry jumped off the bed and ran down stairs not waiting to have questions arise. Hermione sat on the bed, stunned. She literally smacked herself for letting Harry stop her from telling the truth. She needed to tell him the truth, now.

Getting up, she quietly walked over to the door, trying to let her daughter sleep.

"Mommy, where are you going?" Emily asked. She was lying down in her bed, being very quiet.

"I'm just going to go downstairs, you can go back to sleep." Hermione told her.

"I'm not tired," she whined, not wanting to continue with her nap.

"Then let's go downstairs."

Emily kicked off the blankets and swung her legs out of the bed. She sat up and slid down until her feet touched the floor.

They both traveled downstairs. Emily was clutching tightly on her mother's hand. Even though she was safe in the house, she always liked to hold on to her mom's hand, because that way she always felt secure when they were hand in hand.

"I've got a good idea," Harry told Hermione, Ginny and Emily. "Why don't the bride and the bridesmaid go shopping for wedding dresses?"

Hermione looked over at Harry, unsure of what he was talking about. He had just confessed his love for her, and now he was still planning on getting married to another girl. Had this all been a dream?

"Okay Harry," Ginny answered. Hermione once again was surprised, Ginny hated her, yet she still wanted to go shopping with her.

"What about you and Emily?" Hermione asked, not wanting to go shopping with the person she loves fiancé.

"We'll stay here. Spend a little quality time with her. Sound like a good idea?" Harry asked Emily.

"As long as its fun." She answered.

"Of course it will be." Harry then turned back to Hermione. "Go have fun."

Ginny had turned to leave, but Hermione stayed behind to talk to Harry.

"Thanks for watching Emily, you really didn't need to do that. "

Harry looked over at Hermione and smirked. "I need to spend some quality time with my future step-daughter."

"Yeah, whenever you break up with Ginny that can happen."

"Hermione, are you coming?" Ginny called from outside the house.

"I still need to talk to you Harry." Hermione told him.

"Okay, when you get home from shopping."

Harry gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek, and watched her as she walked over to the car.

AN- When I first started this story, I didn't think that Ginny was going to be that main of a character, therefore I never thought of a reason as to why she would be so controlling. I've racked my brain, and I can't find a good reason why Harry won't break up with her. Anyone got any ideas?  
School starts next week, so there might not be an update right away, I'm just warning you. Because of that, I'll give you an idea to think about. The next chapter is called _Daddy._

Please review.

Kelly


	14. Daddy

_Thanks for all your reviews!_

_It's been a while, a little too long. It feels great to be updating again, finally. I've haven't been on fanfiction for a while, so sorry if I haven't read/reviewed your stories, it's just that I've been really busy. I'll get to those immediately._

_Haven't done these in a while…_

**Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns all Harry Potter related characters, places, etc. The restaurant I use in this chapter is actually based on another restaurant I've been to also, so I really can't take credit for that either. **

Chapter 14

Daddy

"What do you want to do?" Harry asked the youngster who was sitting on the coach, staring at a little black bock that her and her mother called a television. Harry was sitting next to her trying to figure out what was so interesting about this box. Yeah, colors flashed across it, but magic was so much more exciting.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her. Even though they had only been alone for a few minutes, Harry wanted to go and do something exciting with Emily to leave a lasting impression on her memory since he hardly ever got to spend time with her. He was also hoping that someday he would be her dad, even if it wasn't biologically.

"Yes," she answered quickly. It was way past her normal lunch time, and she was starving.

"Do you want to go to a magical restaurant, or a muggle one?" He asked.

Harry was hoping that Emily wanted to go to eat somewhere in the wizarding world, because he didn't know too many restaurants in the muggle world.

Emily rested her hand on her head and thought really hard about where she wanted to eat. She really liked eating at magical restaurants, but she hadn't been to any muggle restaurants recently, and she missed the food their; her and her mother use to eat their a lot before. But the magical restaurants were a lot more fun, especially when Harry was around.

"Let's go to a magical restaurant," she decided.

"Great," Harry said.

He walked over to the fireplace and grabbed the pot of floo powder that was attached to the side of it. Emily got up and followed him over to the fireplace. She thought that they were going to drive over to the restaurant, but when she saw that he had stopped at the fireplace, she became very puzzled. If they were leaving, why was he stopping to light a fire?

"Have you ever floo-ed before?" Harry asked Emily. He knew that floo powder might be difficult for her to use, but it was also the fastest way to get to their destination.

"Flopping?" Emily said to Harry. She had no idea what he was talking about. "Isn't that what the Easter bunny has, floppy ears?"

Harry chuckled; she was really confused. He now obviously knew that she had never used floo powder before, since she didn't even know what it was.

"Flooing is a magical way of transportation, like a car, or an airplane." Harry informed her. "You take this powdery stuff, step into the fireplace, throw the floo powder down and shout out the name of the place you want to go. I can't believe your mother never used floo powder before."

"No, she didn't." Emily said. She thought for a moment, and tried to remember the last time she saw her mother using something that was from the wizarding world before they had came to Harry's house. "My mom didn't use magic a lot. She didn't ever use it."

Harry found that very hard to believe. He knew that Hermione used magic back when she lived with Emily, because he tracked her down a while after she left, using her wand. That was when he was going to chase after him, but Ginny persuaded her not to. She told him that it wasn't worth it, and he needed to get over her. Now he wished he didn't listen to her.

"Your mom probably used magic when you weren't around," he concluded.

"Why?"

"I'm not really sure."

Harry glanced down and realized that he was still holding the floo powder in his hand. With ever second that passed by, he knew Emily was getting hungrier and hungrier. He decided that they needed to go out to eat now; they did have the whole day to talk.

"Step up into the fireplace." Harry commanded. She listened to him, but stopped dead in her tracks.

"Am I gonna get burned?" she asked, scared of the flames that she knew were inside all fireplaces.

"No," Harry told her. He walked over to the fireplace and stepped inside before she did. He padded all the sides of the fireplace, trying to show Emily that there were no flames inside of it, in hopes of erasing all of her fears. "See, there are no flames in here. We don't actually use this fireplace for fire."

Emily looked up at Harry, dumbfounded. She followed him, though, and walked into the fireplace, standing right next to Harry. He picked her up and held her close to his side. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, securing herself. With his empty hand, Harry grabbed some floo powder from the pot that was once again hanging from the side of the fireplace.

"Diagon Alley," He screamed, throwing the powder down to the bottom of the fireplace. A blue flame magically appeared, and engulfed them. In no time, they were in the wizarding world, where Harry met his friends year after year while they were on summer holiday.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked." Harry commented. She looked up at him, unsure of what he was talking about. He had never did this before? Reading her mind, he knew he had to explain.

"Your mom told me about flooing, with more than one person. I have floo-ed, many times before, just never with another person."

"Oh," she said. "Can we go eat now?" After waiting for several minutes, or maybe even an hour, she was becoming impatient. Who could blame her; she was starving.

Grinning, Harry agreed. He knew it had been a while since he had told her that they were going out to eat.

"Alright, let's go," Harry told her. He started walking, but he turned around when he noticed that she wasn't following him. He walked closer to her, unsure of why she wasn't tagging along.

"Harry, can you hold my hand?" she asked him, in a soft, low voice.

He could have smacked himself for being so stupid. This was Emily's first time at Diagon Alley, seeing all the odd and unordinary people and objects. Plus, everywhere they went, Hermione was always holding her hand.

"Of course," Harry put his hand in front of her and she placed her hand in his.

He was becoming a father figure to her and he knew it. He could tell she now looked up to him, and that he was starting to become her male role model, probably because he was the only man that she saw everyday, or at least that's what he believed. Even though Harry didn't exactly know anything about Emily before, he could tell that she didn't have a man living with her because she became attached to him so quickly.

"We're almost there," Harry told her, knowing that she was about to ask him again, like all children do over and over.

They turned onto a new street way, but a puzzled look crept across Harry's face. He stopped and stared up at the street signs, unsure of where they were.

"Are we lost?" Emily asked.

Harry looked up at her, not sure whether to tell her the truth or not, because he didn't want her to get worried.

"We're not lost," he told her. "I'm just not sure which way were suppose to go."

"Oh, okay," she answered, relieved. "What's the number?"

"Um…" He looked back at her, having no idea what she was talking about. "What number?"

"The one on top of the places," she said, pointing to the address numbers on top of each and every building.

"Oh…," Harry said, feeling completely stupid. "1543."

Emily took a glance up and down the alleyway. After staring at a couple of different stores, she knew that she was correct.

"We gotta go that way," she announced, point down the street. "The restaurant is right down there."

"Okay," Harry said.

He wasn't completely sure whether or not she was right, she was only four, and she had never been to Diagon Alley before. But then again, what did he have to lose; he had no idea where he was going anyways.

Walking for a minute, Emily stopped suddenly, almost making Harry run into her. She stared at one of the buildings, making sure the number on top was correct.

"Is that it?" she asked. Harry looked over and read the sign.

Believe it or not, Emily had lead them the right way, and they had made it to the restaurant.

"You're just like your mother," Harry told her, giving her a huge compliment.

He grabbed the door handle, and twisted it open. Still holding onto Emily's hand, they both filed into the restaurant, where they were immediately greeted by the hostess.

"Table for two?" she asked them.

"Yes ma'am." Harry said politely.

"Follow me."

Emily's hand had tightened on Harry's, mostly because she was very unsure of her surroundings. She soon loosened it though, amazed with the restaurant. This wizarding restaurant had a very interesting theme; quidditch. It was wall to wall with different quidditch gear and materials, everything from posters to older brooms to championship cups. Looking up, she realized that there were many brooms whizzing through the air, high above her head.

"Here's your table," the hostess told them.

Emily had now just decided that this was the best restaurant she had ever been to, in her short life. The table in which they were going to eat at was shaped like a huge broom that was made out of plastic. Surrounding the bristle part of the broom was two chairs. Lined up on what was suppose to be the handle of the broom (or the broomstick) were napkins, ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper.

Emily took a seat on the chair which was shaped like a snitch; the wings being the arms of the chair and the golden ball being the actual seat. Harry sat on the seat opposite of her, which was in the shape of a bludger with the bats being the arms of this chair and the bludgers being where Harry was to sit.

"Here are you're menus," the hostess said cheerfully. She handed them both menus, Emily getting the children's menu and Harry getting the adults. She was fascinated by the moving pictures spread across the front cover of her menu; there were two qudditch players, flying on brooms, trying to make the quaffle into the rings.

"Your waiter will be with you in a few minutes."

With that the waitress left Harry and Emily alone to look over there menu's and decide what they wanted to eat. Emily opened her menu and looked at it. Unfortunately, she couldn't read yet, so this paper just looked like a bunch of letters smushed together. Trying to impress Harry, she sat there and stared at the paper, pretending that she could actually read what it said.

"Um…" Harry looked over at Emily, and noticed that she was staring at the menu. He racked his brain trying to remember her telling him she knew how to read. He remembered her telling him she could write her name, but never anything about her being able to read already.

"Do you know how to read?" He asked her.

That's it, she was caught. She was hoping that he didn't figure out that she couldn't read; now she wasn't a special little kid anymore. She looked up at him innocently. She smiled, but shook her head no, adding her cute little puppy dog eyes.

A grin flashed across Harry's face; he knew Emily didn't learn how to read yet. Hermione would have told him about that, he knew it.

Harry picked up Emily's menu and she quickly decided what she wanted. Within minutes the waitress came and ordered their food and drinks. She sent their order to cook and left them alone again while their food was being cooked.

While waiting for their food, Harry and Emily chatted lightly on various topics. There was something huge that Emily wanted to talk to Harry about, but she was way too embarrassed to bring it up. The more they talked, though, the more comfortable she became being around him and able to talk to him.

"Harry, can I talk to you about something?" Emily asked, in a very low voice. She was still quite shy and embarrassed, which surprised him. He didn't know kids that young could be that nervous about talking to someone.

"Yeah, of course. You can talk to me about anything, anytime, anywhere." He said, acting not only like a father figure, but also like a friend.

"Will you be my daddy?" She asked, shocking him completely.

Harry knew that he and Emily were going to someday have a father daughter relationship, he just wasn't very aware that it was going to come this soon. It was like the smart remark that he had just gave Hermione was coming true. He really didn't know what to say to her. He wanted to be her father, he did, it was just that…

"I would love to be your dad, Emily, but what about your real father, you know the one whose blood runs throughout you."

She looked back at him; feeling like her dream was just crushed. She wanted him to be her father. No, she needed him to be. She needed someone to look up to, not just someone that was in her imagination.

"I don't know my real daddy," she blurted out, trying to choke back tears that were now beginning to water up her eyes.

"You mean you're mom never told you about your father?" Harry asked. He noticed that this conversation was killing Emily, but he could agree to be her dad until he knew that truth, the whole truth. The last thing he needed would be to get jinxed by her real father.

"No, she didn't," Emily sighed, hoping to try to keep her tears from crawling down her cheeks. "When I met you, I thought you were him, I thought you were my daddy. We have so much the same."

"Yeah, I know, we do have a lot in common." He muttered. "Now, Emily, did you ever ask your mom about your father?"

"I asked her if you were my daddy, and she said no." Emily said, sounding very disappointed.

"I asked her that to," Harry muttered. He then turned back up the volume on his voice and said: "Of course I'll be you're dad Emily." He extended his hand forward, and wiped the tear off of her cheek that had just escaped her eye.

Harry knew that this was the best conclusion he could make out of this situation. Maybe Emily having a dad, and knowing that she had someone that would always be there for her, would inspire her, and turn her into a better person than what she might have become if she never grew up with someone who acted like a father toward her. He hated living his own life without a father, and he knew he would have felt worse knowing that his father didn't want him, or even knew he existed. He didn't want Emily to think that way. She was too young to think that way now, but he didn't want her to ever think like that, whether she was five or fifty. He knew that being her dad would show her that there is some male out there who loves her, unconditionally, instead of her feeling like she was an accident.

Something flew past Harry, taking him out of his trance. The flying objects glided past them, but swerved and landed right in front of Emily. Both of them immediately recognized these objects; crayons and paper.

"Emily, I've got an idea; why don't you write your name for me while were waiting to get our food.

"Okay," she said. Writing her name was now one of her favorite thing to do. She picked up the crayon and began to write her name across the paper.

_AN- A little cliff hanger for you guys, haven't had one of those in a while. For some reason, this chapter didn't really reach my expectations, but it did come out a lot better on here then it did on paper. I hope the next chapter will be sooner, but I am planning on making that one this length, or longer. So stick around…_

_Please Review…_

_For anyone who also is reading Accidentally in Love, there will be a chapter up sometime soon. I'm shooting for tomorrow night, so hopefully that will pan out._

_Kelly_


	15. The Brother

_Finally, the end of a few very many long and hectic weeks. I feel so bad for not updating in such a long time. Plus, I am so going to get killed… you'll see why later._

_Thanks for the reviews! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here updating right now. _

Chapter 15

The Brother

Emily picked up the crayon and thought for a moment, trying to decide how she was going to write her name across the paper. A light bulb flew above her head, and she slowly began to push the blue crayon against the paper, drawing many different size lines. Within minutes, the lines began to take shape. Picking the paper up off the table, Emily examined it, and decided that it was complete. She handed her masterpiece over to Harry, who was amazed at how well this youngster could write her own name.

"Do you know how to write your last name?" Harry asked her, even though he already believed he knew the answer. She shook her head fast, with great enthusiasm.

"Let's see it then."

"Okay!" she said excitedly.

She looked down at the paper and debated whether to use the orange crayon, or the pink one. She picked up the orange crayon and placed the tip onto the paper. Moving it up and down, she started to form the first line of the P. Curving another line with the fat wax crayon; the first letter of her last name was finished. She then moved her arm over and began to work on the next letter in Potter, the O.

The waitress walked over to their table, carrying two drinks for them on a tray; chocolate milk and a butter beer. She gently placed Harry's butter beer down on the table, directly in front of him. Another man, who was on his journey to the door of his restaurant, walked behind the young woman and hit the side of the tray with his elbow, sending Emily's cup full of milk tumbling over the tray, splashing the brownish liquid all over the table. Harry grabbed some napkins to clean up the spill. The waitress blushed, feeling that the spill was all her fault.

"I'm sorry," she said immediately. She grabbed some napkins and helped Harry clean up. When they were milk was absorbed into all the napkins, she picked them up and placed them on her wet tray, along with the empty cup.

"I'll bring you another glass of milk," the waitress told Emily. She turned and brought the tray away from them.

Harry picked up Emily's drawing, which was drenched in milk. The milk began to soak into the paper and stain the drawing. The only letter which was visible to Harry was the E, which he believed was the second to last letter in Granger.

"Well, I guess this is rubbish." Harry told Emily sadly. "You can make another one later, okay, and I'll hang it up on the refrigerator. I think our food should be coming soon."

Of course, Harry was right. Within minutes, their food had arrived. The waitress came over to them and placed the plates onto the table. She also placed Emily's new chocolate milk onto the table.

"Hope you enjoy," The waitress said sweetly. She turned and left the table, as Harry and Emily began to chow down on their food.

* * *

"Where the hell are they?" Ginny asked as she realized that she and Hermione were alone in the house.

"Will you relax for five minutes, I'm sure they're somewhere, having fun." Hermione chimed in; she didn't understand what she was so worried about.

"What a good mother you are," Ginny commented, sarcastically. "You're not even worried about where your daughter is?"

"I'm not worried because I trust Harry, something you need to learn how to do. How are you going to get married to Harry, if you can't even trust him?"

"I'll trust him, as soon as you're gone, back to where ever the hell you came from." Ginny spat back, sinisterly.

"Who said I was leaving?"

"You better!"

Hermione thought for a moment; she was seriously becoming sick of Ginny. She wondered what she would say if she told her the truth; that she was planning on staying there, destroying her marriage, and getting back together with Harry. A huge evil grin flared across her face at the thought of how Ginny would respond.

As much as she wanted to get back at Ginny for everything she had ever done to her, she knew better. She knew that retaliating would only make things worse, and they already were as bad as she thought they could ever be. Plus, Harry had asked her not to get into a fight, and she would do anything to make him happy.

"While your sitting here not caring about your daughter or your best friend is, I'm going to go and look for them.

"Okay then Ginny," Hermione said, truly getting annoyed. The red head got up hastily, and apparated off to who knows where.

* * *

Hermione sat there, staring at the clock. About an hour had passed since Ginny had left, and she had watched the second hand hit twelve every minute since then. It wasn't that she was worried, because really, she wasn't. It wasn't that she had nothing to do either; there were plenty of things she could have occupied her brain with. But she didn't want to. Just sitting there she was relaxed and calm. Normally, when the house was this quiet, she had no worries. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

Three months had passed since she had arrived here at Harry's house, and her days seemed to be dwindling down. She wasn't planning on leaving, that thought had never crossed her mind. Her days were numbered until the wedding, and she and Harry hadn't even talked abut it. She knew that Harry didn't love Ginny, yet he wouldn't break it off with her. He admitted that he loved Hermione, but they still had to sneak around and hide their true emotions.

The wedding was the only thing that really troubled Hermione. It was only four days away, and Harry was still marrying Ginny, without a doubt, and she didn't really understand why. He didn't love her, he never loved her, and still he was going to make a commitment that he was going to stay with her for the rest of his life, through sickness and in health, till death do them part. She knew one thing for sure; she had to stop this wedding, she had to end their relationship. This may have seemed very selfish, but it wasn't, not really. The only reason that she wanted to do this was for Harry, it had nothing to do with herself. She knew that if they did happen to get married, he would be miserable, and she couldn't just stand by and watch that happen, she just couldn't. She wanted her best friend to live his life to the fullest, whether it was with or without her.

"Mommy," Emily screamed as she and Harry walked into the door. Running over to her mother, she jumped onto her lap, and encompassed her into a hug.

"I missed you mommy."

"I've missed you too," Hermione told her. "Did you have fun with Harry?"

"Yes," she answered. "Me and Harry had a blast."

Hermione's jaw dropped; did she just call him daddy? Did she know? Did this toddler possibly figure out the truth about the other person's blood that runs throughout her veins?

"What'd you just call Harry?" Hermione asked making sure she heard correctly before she started making a big deal over this.

"Daddy?" Emily answered shyly.

Hermione still couldn't believe her ears; how could Emily have found out about her father?

"Emily asked if she could call me daddy," Harry said, grabbing Hermione's attention again. "I figured, why not, since she will be my daughter in law sometime soon.

Emily looked up at Harry, eyes glistening. Were they really going to become a family?

"And what is Ginny going to think about my daughter calling you daddy?" Hermione asked, thinking about something that Harry never did.

"Who cares what she thinks…" Harry said seriousness in his tone. "Where is she anyways?"

"Gone… She didn't trust that you would be coming home."

Harry sighed; he was getting really frustrated with Ginny. What happened to the young girl who use to trust him with her life? Now, she wouldn't even trust him to come home when he went out for a bite to eat.

"I guess I better go look for her, before I get hell for 'not carrying'"

Harry placed his hand on Hermione's cheek and gently rubbed it. He leaned over so that their faces were touching, and kissed her, clearing any of the previous worries she had about him not feeling anything for her.

"I'll be home as soon as I find her." But don't worry; I'm still all yours, forever." Harry told her sweetly, as if knowing what she had been thinking about earlier.

He turned to the door, opened it, and stepped out to leave, but was caught by Hermione who called after him.

"Yes Hermione."

"What are we going to do about your wedding?" She asked, needing to know if they had a future together.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said as he kissed her again. "I'll talk to her." With that he shut the door, knowing that if he didn't, he may never leave.

Hermione walked back over to the couch and sat down. Emily followed her mother, and sat next to him.

"Why do I have to love him so much?" She said aloud, to no one in particular. Emily looked over at her mother, very confused.

"Because I'm just so damn sexy," A voice said from behind them, making both girls jump. Each turned around, Hermione trying to figure out who apparated there, while Emily was trying to figure who was there and how they got their. Hermione immediately blushed, realizing that Ron had just heard her remark about Harry, and thought that he himself was the one she was in love with.

"I'm sorry Ron, it wasn't you I was talking about," Hermione said, her face becoming more crimson with each word she spoke. Ron tried to grin, but his smile was already painted across his face before Hermione said this to him.

"I know," Ron told her. "I was just joking, you love Harry." He walked over and took a seat on the couch opposite of the one she was sitting on, knowing this was going to end up being a long conversation.

"What?" Hermione questioned Ron. "No way."

She had a feeling that Ron knew the truth, but she wasn't completely sure. She knew Harry wouldn't tell Ron, because Ginny was his sister. Or would he? It just didn't make since to her, even though the two men were just best friends.

"Don't sweat it Hermione, I know." He answered.

"How?" she questioned. "Did Harry tell you?"

"No," Ron said, as if he was disappointed. "Even though he should have. I figured it out all by myself. You think I'm stupid, but I'm not. I see the way you look at Harry, and the way he looks at you. I see the way you look at Harry, and the way he looks I you. I've noticed that little twinkle in your eyes when you see him."

"And you're not mad?" Hermione asked him, fighting off the temptation to ask the question she really wanted to know the answer to.

"Why would I be?" I always knew you two would end up together, you were meant to be, I've known that since Hogwarts. I mean, you have had plenty of bumps in the road, like most relationships do, and you've got over each and every one. You and Harry deserve to be together, why would I ever be mad at you for following you're heart?"

The idea of asking Ron straight out formed inside her brain, but she wasn't sure whether or not she should just ask him. Before she could make up her mind, "Ron, you're not mad that Harry's cheating on your sister?"

Ron looked up at her, not really wanting to answer this question, it was going to go into territory that would make him seem to emotional, more than he ever wanted anyone to know.

"Ohhh… Harry's cheating." Emily said, bragging that she now knew something she wasn't suppose to.

Even though she really didn't want Emily to know that Harry was cheating, she could not help but laugh at what she just said. She was glad that her daughter really didn't know what cheating was, or else she might not look up to him as much as she did at that second...

"No, I'm not mad. "I'm actually really happy. Ginny wasn't right for Harry, and Harry wasn't right for Ginny, but neither of them would believe it. Harry was way too devastated by his breakup with you that he just jumped into Ginny's arms, knowing that she wouldn't break up with him because she was so infatuated with him. Hermione, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure, anything. Even though I've been gone for so long, were still best friends and can talk about anything. Except there's a huge difference now, we can actually get through a conversation without it turning into an argument."

Ron smiled; he couldn't believe how right she was. "Why did you leave Harry way back when?"

Hermione thought for a moment, and she knew it was now or never. She had to tell someone, soon, or else she might have exploded. Maybe Ron could help her tell Harry.

"Emily, will you please go upstairs and take a nap?" Hermione asked her politely. "It's about time for you to take you're daily nap."

Emily shook her hear as a huge yarn escaped her mouth. She slowly got up, and climbed the many stairs leading up to her comfortable bed.

"The reason I left Harry?" She asked, as if she didn't understand him the first time. "You're the first one who has actually been brave enough to actually ask me straight out." She said with a smile. "But, it's not a funny story at all. Way back them… I left him because… You see Harry and I… Emily…"Hermione stammered, trying to figure out exactly what to say, and how to say it. "I left Harry because I found out I was pregnant with Emily."

Ron looked at her questioningly. "So you cheated on Harry and got pregnant, that's why you left?"

Hermione looked appalled; she couldn't believe Ron would accuse her of such a thing. "No Ron, I left because I was pregnant with Harry's child… Ron, Emily is Harry's daughter." She looked over at Ron, anticipating the look of shock that was going to be spread across his face, but there wasn't.

"But, if you were carrying Harry's child, why did you leave him?" He asked her, not making much since of her explanation.

"Because… I knew that if Harry had a child, it would hold him back from chasing all his dreams, and reaching his goals. In order for Harry to succeed I had to leave, I had to leave Harry, because it was better for him."

Ron looked up at her, and saw the tears welling up in her eyes. "But what about you Hermione, you were just going to sit back and let yourself fail?"

"Yes, Ron, I had to. I had to let Harry go, and I had to leave the wizarding world. If I stayed, and watched his life go down the drain, I wouldn't have allowed myself to live; I just wouldn't have been able to survive."

Boy, it was unbelievable to Ron how strong Hermione's love for Harry had been. He thought it would have disappeared after all these years, but it didn't, not one little bit. "Why haven't you told Harry then? He deserves a right to know that he has a daughter."

"I know," Hermione said, a tear rushing down her cheek. "I've tried telling him… I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't… Ginny, she just wouldn't let me. She thought it was going destroy their engagement, end their love, whatever love they may have had, that is."

"And you just let her control you like that?"

Hermione wiped her cheek, smudging the water across her face. She felt weak, and she didn't want Ron to think that she was.

"No, Ron, I didn't, I've been trying to tell him, but he just won't listen to me. He doesn't have time with me anymore, not with Ginny around."

"He loves you Hermione, you do know that right? He loves you more than he will ever love Ginny. If you need to talk to him, he'll make time for you. You have to tell him Hermione, you have to."

Hermione looked down at the floor, not wanting Ron to realize how depressed this conversation was making her. Tears were now streaming down her face and she just couldn't stop them. "I know, but… I'm afraid… afraid that if I tell him, he's not going to love me anymore."

Ron got up, and walked over to Hermione, kneeling in her front of her. He lifted up her chin, making her look into her eyes.

"He's never going to stop loving you, Hermione; he can't, no matter how hard he tries. Your love is an unbreakable bond; he's going to love you forever. You two are going to get married, and grow old together, and have tons of more little Emily's running around, except for maybe a few Harry's also."

Hermione cracked a smile and Ron was glad his mission was accomplished. He leaned forward and gave her a hug.

"Everything is going to be okay, Hermione, don't worry about it."

_AN- Long enough for you? This chapter was really just a preparation for the next chapter, which I've already started, which hopefully will be up next weekend, depending on how long I end up making it. This chapter seems to be very emotional, doesn't it? I was planning it to be that emotional, but that's just the way it ended up. Plus, I was beginning to hate Ron, and this was a way to tell me that he was an okay character and maybe some of you also._

_Long author's note…_

_Please Review!_

_Kelly _


	16. Emily

_Thanks for all the reviews._

Chapter 16

Emily!

"She's home…" Harry said as he opened the door to Hermione and Emily's room. He shut the door behind himself so that they could have a private conversation. Emily was still lying fast asleep on her bed, and Hermione had just closed her book, which she was reading prior to Harry's entrance.

"And?" Hermione asked him, wanting to know if he broke it off with her, even though she could predict the answer.

"We're still engaged." He said disappointedly.

"Alright, we can deal with that some other time. Right now, we need to talk." She took a quick look over to the door, making sure it was tightly shut, and then gazed back at Harry, and saw the worried ness glazed over his glowing green eyes. "You might want to sit down; this is going to shock you."

"Is there something wrong?" He asked her, as she took a seat right next to her. He could tell that something was really upsetting her, and he wanted to know what was going on in her mind. He was just really unsure of what she was going to tell him, and was terrified it might ruin their relationship.

"No, not really, I just need to talk to you about Emily." Hermione stared at the ground, wishing she didn't have to tell him this. But, she knew she had to; she couldn't keep this a secret from Harry anymore, he had a right to know, and this time, Ginny wasn't going to be able to stop her.

"Look, Harry, Emily is not some random man on the streets child." She continued, hoping she would be able to explain this better than she did when she was telling Ron.

Harry looked up at her, trying to figure out why she was telling her this. "I know you're not that kind of person who would do that."

"And she's not a muggle child either, or one of my boyfriends from when I was away." She took a deep breath; it was now or never. "I never actually had a boyfriend when I was gone. There was only one man I loved, one man I wanted to share a child with, and Harry, that was you. You're-"

A voice from under them was heard, and rang throughout their ears. "HARRY, GET DOWN HERE NOW, I NEED YOU."

He groaned; Ginny was one of the last things he wanted to hear. "The evil voice is calling."

"Harry, you can't leave," she pleaded. "I need to finish telling you what I started to." She needed to tell him now, and she was afraid that if she didn't, she may never have the chance to tell him, again. She also knew that the longer she waited, the harder it would become to inform him, and the worse he would take it.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go see what she wants, or else my plan for ending our engagement won't work." He told her, even though he didn't really want to leave or have a plan for how he was going to break up with Ginny. He stood up, but didn't take his eyes off of her. "I'll be right back, I promise."

Hermione sighed. "Okay, just go."

He slowly walked out the door, not realizing the importance of what Hermione was trying to tell him.

"God damn it," Hermione swore. She banged her head against the wall, not believing she let him walk out the door without telling him, yet again. "I was so close… UGH!"

"I take it you didn't tell him," a voice said from behind her.

She turned to see Ron, but this time, he didn't shock her like he did earlier that same day.

"Are you having fun trying to scare me?" Hermione asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Yes, I am." Ron answered, but this wasn't the reason he was here. He walked over and sat next to her on the bed, even though he knew this wasn't going to be a long conversation. "Did you tell him yet?"

"No," she said sorrowfully. "I tried, but he just won't listen to me. He's too interested in catering to Ginny's every need. I can't stand it. I was two words away from telling him, and then she had to call him"

"Don't worry," He comforted her. "Harry, will listen, he just has to deal with Ginny now."

"Yeah, I know. I'm going to go travel downstairs to see what Ginny's torturing him with. Are you coming?"

"Nah, I'm just going to stay here in your nice comfortable bed." Ron said, swinging his legs onto the bed lying down.

She smiled, walked out the door, and ran down the stairs. Harry immediately noticed her, and was glad she had come downstairs, rescuing him from being alone with Ginny. He smiled at her, making Ginny furious.

"Ginny, Hermione needed to tell me something; can you please leave us alone?" Harry asked her nicely. She looked over at Hermione, knowing exactly what she was going to confess.

"How dare you plan on telling him without asking me!" Ginny yelled to Hermione, outraged. She seemed to have forgotten that Harry was standing in the same room as them, because if she continued talking like this, she was going to tell them herself.

"It's not your choice whether or not I tell him! He has a right to know!" Hermione spat back at the young redhead.

"And you think he's just going to forgive you for keeping this huge of a secret?"

"If it wasn't for you, he would have known months ago!"

Slowly walking down the stairs, Emily saw her mother and Ginny fighting, and turned to run up the stairs again. Harry noticed the youngster and could automatically read her mind.

"Emily and I are going to go into the kitchen and have a snack," Harry informed the two women who were in such a rage. "You need to stay in here and talk this out."

Even though Harry was curious as to what this secret that Hermione was trying to tell him was, he was glad that Emily got him out of that craziness. He walked over to the toddler, picked her up, and carried her into the kitchen. He set her down in a chair, and then walked over to the refrigerator.

"Are you hungry?" He asked her, not really knowing if she was or not, because that was just an excuse to get out of Hermione and Ginny's way.

"Yes," Emily said, nodding her head.

"What would you like?" He asked her.

She thought for a minute, and came up with an idea. "A pasicle!"

Harry smiled, and opened up the freezer, taking a popsicle out for her, and one for himself. He opened both of them, threw the wrappers in the trash can, and brought them over to Emily.

"A grape popsicle for Ms. Emily Granger, and a cherry one for me," He told her as he handed it over to her. She grabbed the stick and took it from him, but was very confused.

After taking a bite of his popsicle, he looked up at Emily, who was still staring at him, while her snack was being to unthaw.

"What?" He asked her, trying to figure out what she was gazing at him.

"That's not my name," She informed him.

"Yes it is," he enlightened her; even though he had thought she knew her last name. "Granger's the second part of your name."

"No its not," she argued with him, knowing she was right.

"Then what is it then?" Harry asked, ready to laugh at what the child had to say.

Emily itched her head, as if she was thinking. "Potter; my name's Emily Potter."

The blood drained from his face, Emily was his daughter; that's the big secret that Hermione was hiding from him.

Without letting his brain process this immense information, he opened the door to the living room, where Hermione and Ginny were now sitting in dead silence. Both of them could sense something was wrong when they saw him barge through the door in this manner. He walked over to Hermione, his shock quickly turning into anger.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Harry yelled at the person that he claimed to have love.

Hermione didn't have to think twice about what he was talking about, it was Emily. That was the only secret that she was keeping from Harry; that was the only secret she had ever kept from him, and the only one to come.

"I've been trying to tell you," She told him honestly. "I just tried to tell you ten minutes ago." She said in hopes of defending herself.

"Ten minutes ago? What about four years ago?" He asked her, his face full of fury. "What, you didn't think that I wanted to know I had a child? I had to grow up all my life without any parents, and you wanted Emily to grow up without a father just because you were to selfish to tell me she was mine!"

A pool of water began to form in Hermione's brown eyes. She couldn't believe that Harry was saying all these nasty things to her; she thought he would understand.

"Ginny…" Hermione said, in between sobs. "She… told me... not to…"

He looked up at her, but was too disgusted to notice the hurt streaming throughout his lover's face.

"And what? Ginny controlled you? It was your decision whether or not to tell me, she had nothing to do with that."

Harry looked over his shoulder, and saw his fiancé smiling. She had gotten everything she had wanted, and more. She actually got to watch the two friends' relationship crumble, and she couldn't help it; it was hilarious.

"You!" Harry said, pointing at Ginny. "Wipe that smile off of your face. You knew about this? You knew about this and didn't tell me! You promised that you wouldn't lie to me, and then you go and keep this big of a secret to me. How dare you."

The smirk suddenly cleared off of Ginny's face, and she began to sweat.

"No… I… she…" Ginny stammered.

"It doesn't matter anymore Ginny. I won't believe what you say anyways. I want you gone and out of my house, now!" He said to her, doing what he was afraid to do before.

Ginny got up off the chair, walked out the door, and slammed it behind her, becoming frustrated Harry.

"You know Hermione," He began again, still feeling anger towards her. "I thought you would have been better than to go and do this to me. You hurt me! You destroyed me! I thought you were the same Hermione that I became friends with at Hogwarts, but I was wrong. I never want to see you again."

She looked up at him, horrified. She couldn't believe that someone who claimed that he was in love with her would say something so hurtful.

Hermione stood up. Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed her wand, and brought it out. Thinking of the old place she use to live in, a huge tug pulled in her stomach as she rose through the air. Within seconds her body was slammed on the ground, sending huge pains all over her back.

Without getting up, her tear stained face opened its eyes, and took a quick look around. It was pitch black, and all she could see was a small light way far away from her. She raised her arm, swished her wand, and summoned the lights to turn on, but nothing happened. She swished again, but still no light illuminated.

"Lumos" She said, as a light shown on the top of her wand. She shined the light on the ground, and realized she was not in her old home.

"Where the hell am I?"

Feeling an itch on the top of her head, she dropped her wand onto the ground and reached up to it, expecting to get rid of the itch. She slid her hand through her hair and onto her forehead, as she began to sense the itch moving. She found the position of the itch, only to find that it wasn't just an itch, there was something crawling on her! A pinch was felt on her forehead, as a dark liquid began to accumulate on here hand.

An overwhelming pain shot throughout her body. She began fight the pain, but it became too hard for her to overcome. Her eyes began to close, her heart beat began slow, and her breathing started weakening.

_AN- A little shorter than I expected, but oh well, at least I updated when I said I was going to._

_I'm not really sure if you're heart slows down, or if it races when someone begins to pass out or die, so sorry if I'm wrong. I'm definitely not the greatest student in biology. _

_I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I hope you enjoyed this one!_

_Please review._

_Kelly _


	17. Realization

I could sit here and bore you with all my excuses as to why this is so late, but I'll just get on with the chapter.

Thanks for all your reviews.

Chapter 17

Realization

"It's about time it gets quiet down here. Can't a man relax?" Ron asked, running down the stairs.

The room was still lonely and quiet, as Harry was the only one there. Neither Ginny nor Hermione had come back to the house after he kicked them out. Did he feel bad? No, of course not. He believed they both deserved exactly what they got. He knew they needed to set their priorities straight.

"Bloody hell, where did everyone go?" He asked Harry, who was lying on the couch, staring off into the flames of the fire.

"When did you get here?" Harry asked. Sitting up, he made room for Ron to come sit next to him.

"I've been here for quite a while now. I was here to be Hermione's support after she told you her secret. Where is she?"

"Hey!" Harry called Ron, anger filling his mind and body once again. "You knew I had a daughter and you didn't tell me!"

"Well… um… yeah…" Ron answered blankly. He knew Harry mustn't have taken the news the way he suspected he would.

"How long? How long did you know?"

"How long did I know for a fact that she was yours? About a day or so. But I assumed that Emily was yours from the time Hermione had arrived here. Come on, she looked just like you, how could you not have realized it?"

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep this from me?" Harry asked, frustrated that every one of his friends were keeping secrets from him.

Ron walked over and took a seat next to Harry, now realizing that this conversation wasn't going to be as quick as he thought. "I felt that it was Hermione's place to tell you."

"After four years she finally tells me… Why the hell did she wait so long?"

Ron contemplated for a minute before explaining. He knew that it should be Hermione sitting her, explaining to Harry exactly what went through her mind. From the looks of it, though, Hermione wasn't ever going to have a chance to reveal her side of the story.

"She was afraid of what your reaction might have been. She didn't know how you would take the fact that you had a daughter."

"She wouldn't have had to deal with that if she wouldn't have left me in the first place."

Ron sighed; it's as if he was repeating history again. "Harry, we've been through this, don't you remember? Hermione left five years ago, and you can't change that. She left the wizarding world, and complaining about it won't change the fact that she did. Now, you know the reason she left, because she was pregnant with your child, and still, you're here, wanting to change the past. You can't…"

"Actually, I could, if I had a time turner…" He interrupted.

"Would you?" Ron questioned. "Would you go back in time with a time turner and change the past?"

Harry stared off into the fire again. He had never thought of that before. Going back in time, that would have solved all of his problems. He could have gone back in time, and made sure Hermione never left him all those years ago. But, would that make everything right again? Maybe this was just something they needed to go through in order to become a family again. Maybe, if Hermione would have stayed their, something more disastrous might have happened, like Emily could have been killed by Voldemort.

"No, probably not."

"Why not?"

"Because… Something worse could have happened, like Hermione and Emily could have died. I'd rather have missed being with her for five years, and missed watching my daughter grow up then having them stay here, because they could have been killed. Then, I would never be able to see either of them again. I wouldn't have been able to survive, knowing that I was the reason that they died."

"Do you still love her?" Ron asked him, trying to mend his friend's broken relationship.

"Who, Hermione?" Ron nodded his head. "Of course, I never stopped loving her. I don't think I ever can either."

"Then go, tell her that. Go get your girl back Harry. Don't make the same mistake you did before, not chasing after her."

Harry stood up, knowing Ron was back. Standing there for a minute, realization hit him. Immediately, he took a seat back on the couch. They had another problem.

"Weren't you just going somewhere?" Ron asked, wondering why he had just sat back down.

"We have another situation on our hands." Harry informed him. "I have no idea where Hermione is."

"WHAT?"

"I kicked her out of the house after she told me about Emily; both her and your sister."

Ron looked up and smacked his forehead. Just when he thought things were going good.

"It can't be that hard to find her. I mean she is with Emily."

Harry's face suddenly became pale. "I don't think she brought Emily with her…"

"Are you serious? You've only known you've been a father for what, an hour now, and you've already lost your daughter."

Suddenly becoming angry and embarrassed, Harry jumped out of his chair and began searching through the living room.

"She couldn't have gone far." He told him. "She's only four."

Ron got up, and began to look for Emily also. He opened the door to the kitchen, knowing that the living room was not so big that they both needed to look. There was Emily, sitting at the kitchen table, coloring in her new coloring book.

"Found her!" Ron yelled back to Harry, who was now freaking out because he couldn't find her.

"Hi Ron," Emily said, not taking her eyes off of her coloring book.

Ron walked over to the table, and took the unoccupied seat next to Emily. Harry strolled into the kitchen, now trying to calm down.

"Emily, how would you like it if Harry went and found your mom?"

The young girl smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "Will you please, daddy?" she pleaded. "Cuz I wanted to give her this picture that I colored."

Harry smiled, knowing he could never say no to that sweet and innocent face. And now, everything was perfect, she was his daughter.

"Yes, I will go and get your mom. But do you know what I want first?" Harry asked the toddler.

"What?"

"I want you to give me a hug." He told her. Emily's eyes glistened with happiness. Sliding off the chair, she ran over to her father, who picked her up, and held her tight. She entangled her arms around his neck, and squeezed onto him with all of her might.

"I love you daddy." She told him.

"I love you too, Emily. But I have to go get your mom." He told her, hating to end this sweet moment.

Slowly, he placed her back on the floor. Emily ran back over to the chair, and started coloring once again. Harry turned, and walked back out the door, ready to go and find the love of his life.

* * *

A strike of white light contrasted greatly against the dark, gloomy night sky. A loud crack of thunder shook the whole forest, scaring all the creatures that were still awake. Water began to bounce off the young woman's body which was planted down against the muddy ground. Drops of water began to hit her incision on the back of her head. Each drop moistened the dry blood. Traces of it licked down her face and onto the ground.

A puddle formed around her body, dampening her clothes. Her body suddenly started to shudder, her cold, soaked clothes finally affecting her warm body temperature. Goosebumps had begun to form up and down her bare arms from the rain water. Her eyes flashed open, hoping to recognize what had caused her unexpected change from hot to cold. Using all of her strength, she raised her head to take a quick glance around, hoping to identify her location.

Another flash of lightning illuminated the caliginous night sky. A shadowy figure roamed off in the far distance. Hermione acknowledged this person and opened her mouth to call out to them, but no sound came out. She closed her gaping mouth and tried to yield some salvia, believing that she couldn't speak because her throat was too dry. Once again, she tried to speak, but there was no noise, just a scratching feeling in her throat. But she had to get this person's attention; she just had to.

The figure began to walk south, directly towards Hermione. Taking very small strides as if they were afraid to get closer, the figure began to come more into view. A feeling of relief swept over Hermione; she wasn't going to die, the person had seen her. They were going to save her! Blinking quickly, she tried to correct her murky, dull vision, wanting to distinguish who the shadow was. It didn't work, though; she couldn't clear her foggy vision.

A rustle of wet leaves was heard down by her feet. Now, she knew for sure she wasn't going to die. She knew that this person was going to save her, especially since they walked so much out of their way to see her.

"You know, Hermione, you've finally gotten what you deserve." The dark figure said angrily at her. "It's not over, it will never be over." The figure then turned around, and walked away, with much quicker struts then those they took on their journey toward Hermione.

Hermione took a deep breath; she knew it was now or never.

"Ginny, help," she pleaded. She was unsure as to if Ginny had even heard her, or understood her through the roughness in her voice. She began to sit up, trying to grab her adversary's attention. Ginny shot a glance back toward Hermione, but continued to walk away.

"It's not over Hermione," she stated threateningly.

Pushing herself completely into sitting position using her arms, the young, injured woman tried to get Ginny to come back. It was her only chance.

"Gi... Gin..."

It was too hard. This was way too much for her weak, frail body. Her breath started to become much heavier than it had been just a few moments ago. Her head collapsed again. She was not able to defeat the pain that had just succumbed her body. Her head hit the dark, wet mud, splashing it all over her head and shoulders. Her eyelids had began to close, but she immediately fluttered them back open over and over again, like a child who was trying to stay up much past their bedtime. She knew she had to stay awake, because it she didn't, it might be over; it might be the end of her life.

Minutes had passed, and she couldn't fight it anymore. Closing completely, her eyelids locked shut. She gave in; she couldn't come out victorious in this battle. Letting go, unconsciousness swept throughout her body and flowed through her veins.

AN- I will try to update much, much sooner, but I always seem to promise and never live up to my promises. Thanks to you all who have stayed with me, even stuck through the lack of updates.

Please Review

Kelly


	18. Finding Her

Thanks for all your reviews! 317, you are awesome. A special thanks to _da ruth_ who proof read this chapter for me!

Chapter 18

Finding Her

"Where would Hermione go?" Harry muttered to himself. He had just left his house and was now on the hunt to find Hermione, his lover and the mother of his daughter.

He stuck his hand inside his pocket and pulled out his wand, which he still carried around for protection. He raised it, ready for it to transport him to another place.

Apparating, he knew that was the quickest and easiest way to find her. But how? He had mastered this way of traveling quite a few years ago, but not like this. This was the first time Harry was going to apparate to a place that he didn't know the exact location of. He had no idea where he was going to go, which was one of the main things he needed to know in order for this method of traveling to work correctly.

Destination, determination, deliberation. That's all he had to do… He had done it a thousand times before…

First, he had to figure out his destination; he had to figure out Hermione's destination. He knew where he was going, to find Hermione, but was that enough? Where exactly would she have gone? It shouldn't have been this hard for him; she had known exactly where he went when he wanted to be alone, but he hadn't the slightest clue when the shoe was on the other foot.

He doubted that she would go back to Hogwarts, like he did when he ran away. That would bring back too many memories for Hermione. True, some of them were good, but it would never be a good place for her to go if she wanted to clear her mind.

Where else could she go? Diagon Alley? No to busy… Maybe somewhere that she visited often when she lived on her own, with Emily. After another few minutes of contemplation, Harry finally came up with an idea, and a good one at that. Her house; that's where Hermione must have run to. It was a place that she could be alone; where she spent four years of her life, away from the wizarding world, but more importantly, away from Ginny and himself, both who had just mentally killed her.

Her old house, that's exactly where she had to be. That formed a bigger problem within Harry's mind; now he couldn't apparate there. He had never seen Hermione's house before nor had he heard anything about it. He just knew that it was where she lived after leaving Hogwarts. And that wasn't enough. If he wanted to apparate, a mental picture of his destination would have to be painted in his head, or else he wouldn't be able to arrive at the correct location, or maybe even lose a body part.

Or could he? He was Harry Potter, the greatest wizard of their age, he could master almost any spell or charm. Why should that change now? He could imagine what he believed Hermione's house may look like, and if he was determined, he could make it work.

Determination, that was the next big step in apparating; Harry had to be determined to find Hermione. He had to be determined to get to her house. He cleared his mind and began to concentrate on the woman he loved, and only her. He imagined her sitting alone, on a big comfy chair, reading a long novel. He hoped this was enough.

Harry kept telling himself that he had to find her, that he was going to find her. Nothing could stop him now, not even a stupid spell or charm.

Deliberation; that was the last step. He carefully rethought his plan, making sure that there were no loop holes in it, that everything was full proof. And it was, or at least it was as full proof as it was going to be, since he didn't know anything about Hermione's house, or even if she was really there. He pushed that thought out of his mind; he couldn't think about any problems now, he just had to get there. Then, he would deal with whatever happened after that.

There was a sudden tug in Harry's stomach as his method was beginning to work. Everything went dark, a sight that he had begun to get use when he was apparating. Pressure filled his body, and it felt as though he was losing oxygen.

Within seconds, the pressure was released. His body began to oxidize, and he was able to breathe again. But, everything was still black. What had gone wrong?

Senses arriving back in his body, Harry began to investigate where he was. He knew he was somewhere, because he could feel a huge amount of moisture in the air that was whipping against his body. Taking in his view, he noticed a very small light far off in the distance.

"I should have known this wasn't going to work." Harry said to himself, angry that he couldn't master this way of apparating, and frustrated that he was now wasting time, precious time that he could have used in talking to Hermione.

Once again, Harry raised his wand. Destination, determination and deliberation. He was going to have to start from the beginning.

The very small amount of light that was in front of him disappeared and complete blackness covered his eyes. For a split second, pressure was forced against Harry. But then, it was over. He opened his eyes, finding that he still hadn't moved.

"Why can't I apparate from here?" Harry asked himself. He thought it was strange that he had just apparated to this exact spot, and now he couldn't leave.

He decided that there must be something that blocked him from using this type of travel, and maybe if he walked a little ways it would end. He started to walk forward, using the moon as his source of light. Still, the scene before him was ominous; he felt like he was walking toward the edge of nowhere. Wind blowing, a branch flew right into his face, knocking his glasses onto the ground. He bent over, and started patting the wet mud in search of the accessory he wore on his face daily. Victory; he had found them. He placed them back onto his face, clearing up his sight.

Glancing up at the sky, he noticed the moon was moving away from him, and he knew the sun was going to be rising soon. This was taking too long. He had to go and find Hermione. Quickening his pace, he ignored the world around him; there was only one thing on his mind now; Hermione, and he had to find her.

Harry's foot got caught underneath a rock, sending him overboard, and landing flat on his face. Instead of getting a face full of the wet dirt though, his body hit some type of wet material. At first, he thought it was only some type of blanket someone had left behind, until he felt it moving slightly up and down, as if it was breathing. Afraid it was a mythical creature, he tightened his grip on the wand, willing to strike if it was going to cause any harm. Slowly, he pulled his body up off the pillow that had protected him from the fall, hoping that his movement didn't wake the creature. Studying the figure, he realized that it wasn't some sort of dangerous animal; it was a person. Lowering his face to the person's nose, he checked their breathing rate; slow and shallow. He knew they probably had less than an hour of life left in them.

The sun slowly peaked its way up toward the horizon, illuminating the sky with its reddish-orange glow. Harry took another glance toward the sky and acknowledged the rising sun. He knew it was getting late, yet he was still lurking in this forest, instead of talking things over with his best friend, his lover. But what was he going to do, leave this person to die? No, of course not; Harry Potter was a hero, and he was going to do anything to save this person life.

Crawling at a very slow speed, the sun still moved from its original position in the sky, letting off bits of light into every direction of the forest. The sun shone light onto the body, giving Harry a better sight of the person lying inches in front of him.

"Hermione!"

_AN- Sorry about the wait, again, life just gets in the way, a lot. Please review_


	19. Some Fun

Thanks for all your reviews. A special thanks to _da ruth_ who proof read this chapter for me.

Chapter 19

Some Fun

"Hermione?" Harry screamed, a huge amount of hurt filling his voice.

Harry moved his arm over to her neck, checking her pulse to see if it had changed, and it did; it was still decreasing in speed. He didn't know what to do anymore; he lost all sense of reality and knowledge when he noticed it was his lover lying on the ground, near the edge of life, ready to plummet down to death.

He knew he had to do something, and fast. Raising her head slightly, Harry slipped an arm under it. He also slid his other arm under her back. Slowly standing up, Harry picked up Hermione, clutching onto her tightly, afraid of letting go. He didn't want to lose her now, or ever again.

"This better work," Harry said to himself, still gripping his wand in his right hand, while holding onto Hermione.

As the method of travel began to work, Harry could feel Hermione's body temperature drop, and her breathing completely stopped. He knew apparating was definitely not going to be the safest way for her to travel, because the oxygen was going to be knocked out of her. Even though it was going to only be for a second, it was a huge risk, mainly because she was hardly breathing when he found her back in the forest. But this was the quickest way for them to travel, and right now, time wasn't on Hermione's side.

Light hit Harry's eyes, temporarily blinding him because his pupils had become adjust to the near absence of it in their last location. Now the bright sunlight hit them, causing him a major headache. The bright light had affected Hermione too, as she began to stir, as if in pain. Harry took this as a good sign, because at least she was responding to her surroundings.

* * *

"When are my mommy and daddy gonna come home?" Emily asked her Uncle Ron. 

He had to put her to sleep a few hours ago, but obviously she had a lot on her mind. Ron had stared at the clock in the kitchen for over an hour now, watching every second tick away. He wasn't sure what was happening with his two best mates, but it shouldn't have been taking them this long.

"I'm not sure," He said sympathetically. "It could still be a while."

Emily pulled out her chair at the table, and hopped up on to the booster seat. Placing her elbow on the table, she rested her head on her hand.

"I'm bored," she groaned.

Ron looked up at her. He wasn't really in the mood for this, and he really didn't want to play any games, which he knew was exactly what she wanted. He just wanted to know what was going on with Harry and Hermione. But Emily; Emily was going to start getting worried. Even though she didn't understand what was going on, Ron knew that she could probably feel the tension he was letting off. Maybe keeping her busy was for the best.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Ron asked, hoping this toddler would have a good imagination. Emily just looked at him and shrugged.

"Do you want to play a game?"

"Yeah!" Emily said enthusiastically, almost screaming.

"What game do you want to play?" He questioned.

"Hide and go seek!"

Ron smiled, he should have known. Hide and go seek; it was a classic, and almost every child's favorite game at one point. He was glad that she picked one of the few muggle games he actually knew how to play.

"You hide, and I'll count, alright?" He asked. He knew that she would much rather be hiding that seeking.

"Okay," she said. She turned and started to walk away, but looked back at Ron, making sure he wasn't watching her. "Hey, no peaking."

Once again, Ron grinned. "Don't worry, I won't."

"Cover your eyes with your hand, like this." She raised her hand up, and placed it over her eyes. She then took them away, after she was sure Ron had seen her.

"Okay" He did as he was told. "1… 2… 3…"

Emily double checked to make sure Ron wasn't cheating, and then went off in search of the perfect hiding spot. Ron chuckled to himself as he heard her slam the door to the kitchen; at least he knew she wasn't hiding in there.

"18…19… 20… Ready or not, here I come." He opened his eyes and lowered his hand. He took a quick glance around the kitchen, making sure that his ears weren't deceiving him, or that Emily wasn't trying to trick him.

He strolled through the kitchen door into the living room. Right in front of him was what seemed like a huge pile of blankets, but he knew for a fact that it was only one. He also noticed that this blanket had moved from its original location. He smiled as he realized that her foot was sticking out.

"Emily, where are you?" He played along, pretending he still had no idea where she was. A slight giggled came from under the blanket. Ron pulled the blanket off, revealing Emily, with a huge smile on her face.

"You found me!" she said excitedly.

"My turn," he told her, acting like a kid again.

"Yup," Emily closed her eyes and placed a hand over them.

"1… 2… 3…" she began.

Ron decided to go hide in the kitchen. He made his way over to that room, sneaky and sly, not making any noise at all. He looked around, not sure of where to hide.

"14… 15… 16…"

He was running out of time. He got down on his hands and knees, and crawled underneath the table. After sitting down under there, he decided that it wasn't the best place to hide, because his legs stuck out immensely. Bringing his knees toward his body, he wrapped his arms around them, hoping not to make himself obvious.

The door swung open, and Ron watched as two little feet walked right past him. A few minutes passed by, and Emily began to step closer and closer toward the table. Finally, she bent over slightly, and looked directly into Ron's eyes.

"Found you. My turn." Without even waiting to make sure he didn't peak, she stormed out of the kitchen, and back into the living room.

Twenty seconds later, Ron was on the hunt for the four year old again. He entered the living room, only to find the mountain of blankets in his way. He smirked; she had hid there for a second time. He pulled the blanket off of her, and yet again, there she was.

"Don't hide in the same place two times in a row, Emily," he said, giving the little girl advice.

"Why not?" She pleaded for him to tell her.

"Because it makes it easier for me to find you," He responded.

"Not uh" Emily commented, knowingly. "Just don't look under there first, so you don't find me so fast."

Ron cackled. "Why don't you go hide in the kitchen, I'll count again."

"Okay," Emily said, glad she didn't have to be _it_ this time. She ran off into the kitchen, and once again he counted out loud.

"… 8 … 9… 10…"

"Ron, what in the bloody hell are you doing?"

He jumped, obviously not hearing anyone enter the house. He opened his eyes to see Harry entering.

"Harry, I'm glad you're here. I was starting to get worried about you, mate."

Harry shut the door behind him, and the red head saw that Hermione wasn't behind him.

"Where's Hermione?"

The saddened look shown across his facial features, and Ron knew immediately that something was wrong.

"She… She was admitted to St. Mungo's today."

_AN- Probably not the chapter that you we're expecting, right? Now, I really worked hard to get this chapter up so soon, because I am off to Florida for the next week, with no access to the internet, and I'm not even bringing a notebook, (which sucks because I bring a notebook everywhere). What I'm trying to say is, the next update won't be until at least the 28__th__, but I hope this makes up for it, and my lack of updates recently._


	20. Explanation

_A/N Thanks for all your reviews. A special thanks to _da ruth_ who proof read this chapter for me._

Chapter 20

Explanation

"She… She was admitted to St. Mungo's today."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, I found her, somewhere, passed out." Harry began to explain. "Where's Emily?"

"Oops," Ron said. "Forgot about her." He then raised his voice so that it could be heard throughout the whole house. "Ready or not here I come."

"Hide and go seek?" Harry guessed.

Ron nodded his head in agreement. "I'm going to find her, but you better not leave. I want to hear what happened to Hermione."

Harry agreed. He walked over to the couch and began pacing the floor. He didn't want to stay at the house for too long; he wanted to be with Hermione, but he knew that he did owe Ron an explanation. Plus, he had to see Emily, before even she began to worry, or worse, think her mommy and daddy left her.

"Daddy!" Emily screamed, running back through the kitchen door, straight to her father. Scooping her up, he engulfed her in a hug, proving that he really had missed her.

"Where were you Daddy?"

"I was with your Mommy." He told her. He loosened his grip and placed her back down on the floor. Emily too could sense the pain within her Dad's eyes and knew something was wrong.

"Emily, your Mommy was hurt. I had to take her to the um…" Harry searched his brain trying to locate the muggle word. "Hospital."

Tears started to well up in Emily's eyes as she began to comprehend what he was saying. She was afraid that she would lose her mother. "Wha… What happened?" she asked, in between sobs.

"I don't know, honey," he answered truthfully. "I found her and she was hurt." He was trying his best to explain it simply, and not making the child worry anymore than she already was.

"Is… Is she gonna be okay?"

"Yes, she's going to be fine." He told her reassuringly. He hoped he wasn't lying, but he didn't know what was going on to be sure. "Tell you what, I'm going to go back to the hospital for an hour, and then I'll come back and take you to see her. How does that sound?"

"Good," Emily said. Raising her arm up to her eye, she wiped it in a circular motion, hoping to stop some of the tears from spilling out. She was also very tired, and her eyes were fighting to stay opened.

"Come here." Harry commanded. Once again, he picked up Emily off the floor and into a hug, trying to show her that he wasn't going to leave her alone. "It's going to be okay." Rubbing her back, he tried to comfort the child, but knew that she needed more than that. Setting her back on the floor, he noticed a huge yawn escape her mouth.

"Why don't you go upstairs and lie in bed. I'll be up in a minute to say good night."

Emily thought for a split second, and yawned again. She was way too tired to stay awake. "But… Are you going to wake me 'cause I wanna go see my Mommy?"

"Yes, I will, now go upstairs."

Slowly, she turned and walked away from her family members, verifying her amount of tiredness in her pace. Harry watched her as she made it to the top of the stairs and walked down the hallway to the room she and Hermione shared.

"Are you really going to wake her up in an hour to take her to St. Mungo's?" Ron asked.

"No," Harry answered reluctantly. "She really needs her sleep. I have a feeling its going to be a very long day. But I will come back and taker her, when it's a normal time for someone to be awake."

"What happened?"

"Give me a minute; I need to go and say goodnight to Emily."

Harry ran upstairs, two stairs at a time. He wanted to get back to Hermione, but there were still a few things he had to take care of there, and Emily was his top propriety.

Turning the door handle, Harry opened the door and stepped inside. There was his daughter, under the blankets, curled up into a ball, and fast asleep. He knew she must have been sleeping as soon as her head hit the pillow. Walking closer to her, he lowered his head and kissed the top of hers.

"Goodnight my daughter." He whispered. He stood there for a second longer, just admiring her beauty and innocence. Silently, he shut the door behind him as he exited.

Back downstairs, Ron waited nervously for Harry to come down and explain to him the situation. Catching sight of the black haired man coming down the stairs, he knew it was now or never.

"What happened?" He asked. He needed to know, but from the looks of it, maybe he didn't want to.

"Everything I told Emily was the truth; I just made it sound better than it actually was." Harry admitted. "When I found her, she was hardly breathing, and her heart rate was deteriorating. She was cold and wet because it had been raining." He took a deep breath, trying to hold back tears; he was supposed to be the strong one. "The healers at St. Mungo's say that there not sure she's going to make it."

Thousands of emotions came rushing into Ron. He wanted to cry, but the sobs coming from the man next to him mad him stop. He had to push his emotions out of the way.

Harry looked over to the couch; he had to sit down, a feeling of light headedness and nausea had just passed over him. Ron sat next to him, having no idea what to say or do.

"Hermione's going to be okay." He said, in a soft, comforting voice. "She's a fighter."

"This is all my fault." Harry said in a low, raspy voice, between sobs, making it very hard for Ron to understand him. "If it wasn't for me, Hermione wouldn't be laying in some bed lifeless."

"What?" Ron asked, disbelievingly.

"If it wasn't for me, Hermione would be here with us, right now, safe. But no, I had to be a stubborn asshole and kick her out of the house. And now, she's almost dead, all because of me."

"Harry, it's not your fault." Ron couldn't believe that he and Harry were in the same exact position they were in their fifth year, Harry blaming himself for Sirius death. "You didn't know this was going to happen, or else you never would have let her leave. As for your reaction, it could have been a little better, but your Harry Potter, being stubborn is just part of who you are." He tried to crack a joke, hoping to release a small amount of tension in the room. Yes, he was still scared for Hermione, but he didn't like to see his best mate sinking back into depression again.

Moments of silence passed as neither man knew of anything to say. Harry's mind wandered, the past few hours replaying over and over again in his head.

"I'm going to go back to St. Mungo's." He announced. Standing up, he walked towards the door.

Ron got up and followed. "I'm going too."

"Like hell you are," Harry said, sounding bitterer than he intended to.

"I want to be there for Hermione, just like you to."

"No Ron, you can't." Harry stated simply. He hoped that he had just erased all the anger and frustration from his voice. "You have to stay here with Emily."

"Oh yeah," Ron responded. How could he forget about the sweet young child that was sleeping right above their heads? "Can't you just have my mom watch her? I want to go see Hermione with you."

"It's too early in the morning to get her. I'm sure she's still sleeping. Besides, I may need you to keep Emily's mind off of what is happening."

Ron sighed. "Okay, but you better keep me posted. Come and get me if you hear anything."

_A/N- Please Review_


	21. Healing

_AN- Thanks for all your reviews! Some of the information I used in here I got from the Mugglenet Encyclopedia, but a lot of it I just created to fit the plot line. __A special thanks to _da ruth_ who proof read this chapter for me_

Chapter 21

Healing

Two hours had passed since Harry had arrived with Hermione, and still, healers were swarming in and out of her room, in a very fast pace. When Harry had returned he tried to get one of their attention to ask what was going on, but most of them were just rushing right passed him, as if he was invisible. One of the rude healers actually yelled at Harry to get out of his way. All he wanted to do was just be in the room. If only he could be with Hermione, and hold her hand, tell her everything was going to be okay.

Pins and needles began to shoot through all of Harry's veins. He knew he had been sitting to long, and his legs were falling asleep. Standing up, he took a short walk across the hallway to Hermione's room. Making sure to stay out of the healers' way, he took a peak inside the window. There was his Hermione, still lying in the exact same position as she was the last time he looked on. Her face was a ghostly white color, just like before. Instead of her damp wet clothes, though, she was now changed into a gown. Harry hated seeing her like this, and he wished someone would just tell him what was going on.

The healers were way to busy to talk to Harry. Most of them were swarming around her in the room, wands pointed at her. Others kept entering and exiting, Harry hadn't a clue why. But he knew standing was going to help him get their attention, and they would probably just get more annoyed, so he walked back to the chair.

A weak sleep succumbed Harry as he sat in the waiting room. He slumped down in the chair, and a quiet snore escaped his lips.

* * *

A light tap was felt on Harry's shoulder and he started to stir in his sleep. He raised his arm and smacked at his shoulder, as if it was just a fly that needed to be swatted away.

"Mr. Potter," the head healer called out. He had been standing over the young man for quite a few minutes and the slumbering man would just not wake.

"Hmm?" Harry asked dreamily. Harry opened his eyes very, very slowly, as if each eye lid weighed a thousand pounds. The light from the hospital reached his retinas, and he wiped them roughly, exactly like his daughter did earlier that day. When his vision completely focused, he sat straight up, trying to act like the gentleman he was.

"Is there any news of Hermione's condition?" Harry asked.

"Yes sir," The healer commenced. "As of this second, Ms. Granger is doing fine. Her body is stable. We were able to flush all of the poisonous venom out of her blood stream."

Harry caught on to the Healer's words. "Poison?"

"Yes Mr. Potter," He agreed, affirming the he had just heard him correctly. "You see Ms. Granger was bitten by a Lethifold."

"A what?"

"A Lethifold, it's a certain type of creature that feeds off of humans. First, the Lethifold sets sights on its prey. Then, it bites it, sending poison throughout all of the victim's bloodstreams. This poison thickens the blood, making it much harder for the heart to pump. The heart begins to pump faster and faster, but the blood continues to thicken."

Harry just sat there intently, listening to every word that exited the healer's mouth, trying to understand exactly what happened to his lover.

"Soon," he went on, "The heart gets to tired and slows down. And, without the heart, as you should know, no part of the body can function. The breathing rate decreases and decreases until there is no oxygen inside the brain. Then the person is pronounced dead.

The younger man stayed in his seat, staring at the floor. He couldn't believe it; he could have lost his best friend and his lover.

"Normally, the Lethifold would come back after the person is dead, and devour them completely, leaving no trace of them behind. But luckily you got Ms. Granger just soon enough before…"

Harry knew what he was going to say, and he didn't want to hear it. He cleared his throat, hoping to still have a voice left.

"Can I see her?"

"Yes you may son." The healer told him.

Harry jumped out of his seat, as if he had the energy of a hippogriff. The healer placed his arm out in front of him, motioning him to stop; he wasn't finished talking to him yet.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger may not wake up while you are in there with her. A full blood transfusion is very hard on the body, even to someone as strong as she. She needs sleep right now, especially while the blood is getting use to her unique set of veins."

"Okay, thank you."

Walking over to the room, Harry took another quick peak inside the window; there was Hermione, sleeping like a baby. He smiled, it was going to be okay; everything was going to be okay.

Opening the door, he walked in, almost afraid of seeing Hermione this way, He was afraid that just entering the room might endanger her life. The door quietly swung closed behind him, and he inhaled deeply, trying to take in the sight around him in a calm fashion.

Inside the small, tight living corridors, there was only one small bed, and a chair next to it. A small night stand was set next to it, with Hermione's wand on top.

Harry's eyes wondered, and stopped directly at her. Scanning over every part of her body, he could now clearly see all of her injuries. Her lower back of her neck had a huge cut across it; Harry had a feeling this was where the Lethifold bite her. Her skin wasn't as pallid as it was when he had originally found her, but it didn't have its normal tint to it. Traces of dirt were found on her, as the healers obviously didn't clean her up from the mud she was laying in for who knows how long.

He continued on his journey across the room. Stopping short of Hermione's bed, he picked up the chair that was in his room and carried it closer to the bed. He sat down and relaxed, finally knowing that Hermione was okay.

"Harry?" A small, raspy voice called out, Hermione couldn't actually see who was sitting next to her, because something wasn't permitting her to move.

"Yes, it's me." Harry said. Her voice had immediately knocked him out of the dreamless sleep he was in. Getting out of the chair, he stepped over to her, that way she could see him, and he could get a better look at her face.

"Where am I?" she questioned. She really couldn't remember the last few hours, or maybe it was days.

"St. Mungo's, you were attacked by some strange animal. Probably should have paid a little more attentions in Hagrid's class, I suppose." He said, wanting to release some of the tension, but Hermione wasn't in the mood.

Reality had just begun to strike Hermione, and everything came rushing back to her, the fight, Ginny, Emily.

"Where's Emily?" she asked. She wasn't sure what happened to herself, but she needed to make sure her daughter was okay, and in good hands.

"Hopefully still sleeping. I left her with Ron." He answered.

"Oh," she responded. A pang of guilt began to touch her, as she replayed the last twenty four hours in her head. "Harry, I'm so sorry," she said, tears swimming up to the surface of her eyes.

"Why don't you get some sleep, and we'll talk about this when you're fully awake, and feeling better."

"But Harry…"

"No Hermione," he said, cutting her off. "You need sleep. I'll go and get Emily, and she'll be here when you wake, okay?"

"Mhm" Hermione agreed. Harry was right, she needed sleep. Her eye lids fluttered closed. Walking toward the door, he turned back and took one last glance at his sleeping beauty.

"Harry?" Hermione muttered, trying to figure out if he was still in the room.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Harry smiled, "I love you too."

* * *

"Emily, be quiet, honey, your mother's sleeping." Harry told his young daughter, who was sitting on his lap. She was very excited to see her mother again, and Harry was shocked that he could actually get her to sit still.

"I know, but I love my mommy." She announced to Harry. It wasn't like he didn't know, but the little girl just loved to declare her lover for her mother. "And I've missed her so much."

A little over a day had passed since Emily had seen her mother, fully alive and awake. Normally, a day wouldn't be that long, but Emily had never left her mother's side, never mind slept a whole night without her.

Hermione, who was still sound asleep on the bed, or so everyone thought, was awakened by the volume of her daughter's over anxious, squeaky voice. Within an instant she opened her eyes, and sat up into a sitting position, causing Harry, Ron and Emily all to jump in surprise from the sudden movement of this supposedly sleeping woman.

The blood from Hermione's head all came flowing down through her head, as if it was rushing away from it. A huge ache formed and pounded hard, making her head feel like it was a thousand pounds. Bringing her arm up to her pain, she placed it under trying to hold it up. This, in turn, relaxed her eyes, which were just starting to make her dizzy.

"Guess I shouldn't have done that," Hermione muttered stupidly.

"No, probably not." Ron said, smiling.

"Mommy!" Emily screamed. She jumped off of Harry's lap, not giving him a chance to help her. She then ran over to her mother's bedside. Clutching the sheets with her hands, she hoisted herself up. Kneeling, she entangled her arms around her mother, and tightened them. Hermione copied her daughter, hugging her back with the same force.

"I've missed you so much, Mommy."

Hermione felt a sting in her eye; a tear was forming. "I've missed you too, honey. Did you have fun with Ron and Har- your dad?"

"Yeah!" Emily said excitedly. "Me and Ron gots to play hide and go seek, but he didn't like it when I hid in the same place twice."

A smile crept across Harry's face; leave it up to a four year old to change the dark mood in the room.

"Ron's a really good hider and seeker, mom."

"Oh, is he?" Hermione asked. She loved discussing things with her daughter, and she was glad she wasn't shy around Harry and Ron. "Thanks for watching over her Ron."

"No problem," He responded. He walked toward the bed, away from the corner in which he was just standing in, where he was out of view from all of them. "Anytime you need me to watch her, I will, but only on one condition."

"What's that?" Hermione questioned.

"That Emily now calls me Uncle Ron."

Hermione grinned. "Deal"

_AN- I probably won't be able to update again next weekend. First, I have this huge test that I have to take, called the MCAS, if anyone lives in MA they should know about it, but it's a test that all sophomores have to take in order to graduate when there seniors. Then, its Memorial Day weekend so I won't be home. I'll try to write in my spare time, that way I can give you an extra long chapter next time._

_Please Review._

_Kelly_


	22. Bonding

_AN- Thanks for all your reviews. Oh, and obviously I don't own McDonalds, but it's mentioned in this chapter._

Chapter 22

Bonding

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Harry asked Hermione. They were still all sitting in the exact same position as they were before; Emily on the bed with her mother, and Harry in the chair at her bedside. Ron had now conjured up a chair, and he too was sitting beside the bed.

"Yes Harry," she said politely. Really, she was fine, she wasn't tired or in any type of pain.

"Anything we can get you?" Ron questioned. He then said what was really on his mind: "Food?"

Hermione smiled, Ron was always thinking of food. "Now that you mention it, I am a bit hungry. The food they serve her is ghastly."

"Are you allowed to eat food from outside, or do you have to eat food from here?"

"I don't really know, do you Harry?" She really hadn't talked to the healer yet, Harry was the one who had given her all the details of the accident.

"Yeah, the healer said it was alright," he responded.

"Okay," Ron turned his attention to Emily, who was listening quietly to the conversation around her, just glad to be back in her mother's arms. "Do you want to come with me and get something to eat?"

Yeah," she said softly.

"Let's go"

Hermione released her hold on her daughter as she began to wiggle, trying to break free on her own. Clutching the sheets, Emily slid down the bed, and her feet smacked against the cold, tiled floor. Briskly, she walked over to the tall red headed man, who she had just begun to call Uncle Ron. Together, they walked out of the room, on there way to accomplishing their mission.

With the swinging of the door, an awkward silence filled the room. Harry kept his eyes on Hermione, afraid that if he were to blink, she may disappear. She too kept her focus locked on his large, green orbs, not wanting to break contact.

The sound of the door swinging open once again made them shift there glances away from each other. In walked in a very professional, medical looking man; a healer. Harry knew from their last encounter that he was the main person in charge of caring for Hermione at St. Mungo's. The young man walked over to the bed, and extended his hand out to her.

"Hello Ms. Granger, I am Healer Brown"

"Nice to meet you."

He turned his body away from Hermione, and toward Harry, shaking his hand too. "It's good to see you again, Mr. Potter."

The healer then took a seat in the extra chair next to Harry.

"Is there a problem, sir?" Harry asked nervously, wondering why the man had suddenly entered the room, and had taken a seat next to him, as if he had a long lecture to give.

"Oh no son." He answered, a grin forming on his face. "Everything is fine."

"Good," Harry inhaled greatly, as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"But ma'am," he continued. "You are going to have to stay here for the next two or three days."

Hermione sighed, who she was going to survive in this place for three more days, and she was already going crazy.

"But there aren't any problems?" Harry had to make sure, he wanted to know whether the healer was lying to him or not.

"No sir, we want to make sure that her body is okay, that she doesn't have any reactions to the blood in her body. It's better if she's here than at her home, because we can catch the mistake immediately, and reverse it. Unlike if she was at her house, then it may take quite a bit of time go get here.

"If it's for the best, I will stay." Hermione agreed, giving no argument over leaving at all.

"Thank you," the healer said. Harry and Hermione were quite easy for him to persuade, normally he would have to put up a huge fight to get the patient to stay. For what seemed like the millionth time that day, he reached over and shook both of there hands. Standing up, he left the room professionally, leaving the two lovers alone to so what their hearts desired, talk.

"Harry," she started, she was very nervous about talking to him, she knew this chat was going to determine there whole relationship from this moment on. "I'm really sorry about everything that happened, especially with Emily, I should have told you about her before-"

"Hermione stop," he interjected. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I shouldn't have-"

The door to the room swung open again, and Emily ran inside. Slowly behind her stood Ron, trying desperately to balance two bags of food in his hands and a tray full of sodas.

"I should have told you not to let her choose," Hermione told the red head. "It was only a matter of time before she started missing McDonalds."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Is this stuff even food?"

He reached into the bag and pulled out a hamburger. He flung it at Harry, who jumped and grabbed it in automatic reflex.

"I've missed McDonalds. It's some good, classic muggle food." He unwrapped the burger and chowed down, while his best mate was still passing out the food from the bag with the bright, golden arches on the front.

"Its not bad food, Uncle Ron." Emily told him, defending her McDonalds. She was now back up on the bed, sitting next to her mother. A table was pulled up in front of them, and Emily sat crossed legged so that her legs would stay under it. Hermione on the other hand, had her feet sprawled out straight across the bed.

"McDonalds has good food." She continued on with her rant. "Look, I get 1…2…3…4 McNuggets." She flashed Ron the box that contained the pieces of chicken. "And I even get a toy." Like she did with the nuggets, she extended her arm and showed off the toy to him.

"Nice," Ron said, making the little girl extremely happy.

"So, Emily, we have something that we need to talk about with you." Hermione told her daughter.

The toddler finished chewing the nugget that was in her hand, and looked up into her mother's eyes, intently waiting to hear what she had to say.

"I have to stay in the hospital for the next few days," She told her, the muggle words just rolling off of her tongue, making it easier for the child to understand. "And you're going to stay at home, with your dad, is that okay?"

Her bright green eyes swayed back and forth, from her mom to her dad. Yes she lover her mother, very much so, but getting to spend the next few days with her dad was going to be great. Billions of thoughts flew in and out of her head as she thought of all the things they could do together.

"Yup," she answered, enthusiastically. "It's going to be fun."

Harry smiled, glad that his daughter was comfortable with being alone with him, and excited on top of the. By the sound of her voice, he could tell that she really looked up to him.

"About that fun." Hermione said. Harry looked back at her, afraid she was going to put a damper on his plans to have fun with his daughter. "I was thinking that Daddy could take you to a carnival."

Emily flashed both of them a huge grin. "Yeah!"

"Wait, what?"

"Come on dad, it's gonna be lots 'n' lots of fun."

"A carnival?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "What the big deal?"

"You're going to make me spend a whole day with those… those muggles?"

"Hey, don't forget, I am a muggle." She told him jokingly.

"Ron, want to come?" Harry asked, hoping he would agree.

"Nope mate, you're on your own. I need to go check in with my parents, make sure everything's okay."

"Are we gonna go, Daddy?"

"Yup"

* * *

Lights and sounds were being shot off in all directions as Harry and Emily walked closer and closer to the carnival. Crowds and crowds of people were waiting in line to buy tickets, and already dozens of people had entered. Emily's eyes glistened with excitement as she walked with Harry, her mouth hung open in awe.

"Two please," Harry told the man at the ticket booth, who was concealed inside a small house, with windows and a microphone in front so that he could hear and see what was going on.

"Here you go," he told the man with the strange scar on his forehead/ He slid the tickets under the window as Harry took the money from his wallet. Sliding the money under the class, he grabbed the tickets and ripped them apart.

Traveling over toward the entrance gate, father and daughter walked hand in hand. Tighter and tighter Emily grasped his, trying very hard to conceal her excitement. Passing the tickets to the man at the entrance, the two of them stepped inside the carnival, now becoming one with the lights and sounds, the people and the crowds, but more importantly, the fun.

Emily's pace slowed as her head spun back and forth, trying to capture everything in her memory.

"Want to go on that ride there?" Harry asked the young girl. Emily's eyes wandered back toward Harry, and then shifted to where he was pointing to.

The ride was gentle, or at least it looked gentle enough. It was under a small tent, and there were these circular chairs with more than one person sitting in them, spinning around and around. Some looked like they were just relaxing, while others were screaming loudly.

"Tea Cups," Harry informed her, reading the sign. "Bloody hell, you could fit a lot of tea in those."

Emily nodded her head in agreement. "Let's go.

Quickening her pace, she walked closer and closer to its entrance. Harry took larger steps, trying to keep up with the toddler.

She stepped up onto the ride, just as Harry had caught up to her. She weaved in and out of the 'cups', trying to find the perfect one for her and her father.

A light green cup caught her eye, and she raced over to it, snatching it before someone else stole it. She sat down, and scooted to the middle, making sure Harry could fit in next to her.

"Are you ready?" the ride manager asked. A loud uproar of yeah resounded through the whole ride. Emily screamed too, and Harry joined in, feeling like a kid again.

The ride manager lifted his hand and pressed a big green button on the control panel. The cups began to move, slowly at first, and wove in and out of each other. Emily watched the kids in the neighboring cups, and waved at them, the hugest smile on her face. The children were slightly confused as to why this stranger was waving to them, but they returned the gesture.

Picking up speed, the ride now started spinning in a circular motion, around in around, in an increasing speed. Wind whipped around the two of them, causing Emily's light, baby fine hair to fly up in the air.

"Wahoo," Harry screamed, letting his emotions run wild. He too was having fun, and he wasn't afraid to show it. In her soft, squeaky voice, Emily let out a small shrill.

A few minutes passed by, and the ride started to slow, letting the ride-goers bodies get settled back into their slower pace. Coming to a complete stop, all of the cups stopped, and their occupants exited the ride. Harry and Emily followed in suit, now knowing that the ride was officially over.

Emily's eye bounced back and forth, from ride to ride and person to person as the continued to walk around the park.

"That's my Dad," she announced to any passing stranger who would listen. Some people would just ignore her, while others would smile sweetly. Harry thought that this sentiment was cute and sweet; he was glad that she wanted to show him off to everyone, but he was getting quite embarrassed.

"Hey daddy, can we go on that one there?" she asked.

Harry knew exactly what ride she was talking about; there was a ride right in front of them, with loud music and bright lights. Weird looking creatures were on it, moving up and down as the platform moved in a clockwise rotation.

"Sure," he responded.

Walking over to the Merry-Go-Round, the ride before them ended, and the crowd in front of them diffused onto it.

"What kind of creatures are these?" Harry asked her, in extreme seriousness.

Emily looked back at him as if he had four heads; she couldn't believe he didn't know what kind of animal they were. "There horsey's Daddy."  
Stopping at a horse with a caramel colored mane, she slid her foot into the metal hoop dangling from it. Lifting the opposite foot up off the ground, she tried to swing her leg through, but it wouldn't make it over. Seeing her struggle, Harry picked her up and placed her on the horse's back, but she now couldn't reach the place where her feet were suppose to be.

"Oh, so they are," Harry said, examining the creatures faces as he helped her get settled. "Can you get the belt on or do you want me to do it?"

"I got it, I got it," she told him proudly.

She wrapped the long piece of material around her body and buttoned it. Harry watched her do this, and then hopped over the horse parallel to Emily's He buckled himself up too, even though he really didn't need it, but he wanted to show his daughter that he too was following the rules.

A loud trumpet sounded and the music picked up speed and sound. Harry's horse slowly moved down, as Emily's rose up. She squealed in excitement as the horse picked up speed, now going both up and down.

Coming to a halt, the ride slowed and the music's volume got lower until it completely faded. Harry unhooked his belt and jumped off the plastic horse, knowing Emily would now need help since hers was stuck up on the air. He grabbed her and released her to the ground.

They both walked hand in hand around the carnival, both oh-ing and ah-ing at dvarious points throughout the day. Finally, Harry noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a small stand selling snacks. He grinned as he recognized the big, poofy object that many of the stand's customers were eating.

"Cotton Candy," he told Emily. "Have you ever had some?"

"No," she advised him, she actually never even heard of it before.

"I had it for the first time when I was younger; my cousin gave it to me." Harry told her. He didn't really want to go into detail, but the only reason Dudley had given it to him was because he had spit on it first, otherwise he would have kept it all to himself. "It's really good. Let's go get some."

A few minutes passed by as they waited in line patiently for their delicious treats.

"Next," the young woman behind the stand asked. She had a red and white striped shirt on, and a corresponding hat.

"Two cotton candies, please." Harry ordered. He reached into his back pocket and pilled out his wallet. He scanned the money, hoping he still had some muggle money left over, and believe it or not he did.

"What color?" she questioned. She held up the two types they sold.

"Blue or pink?" Harry asked his young daughter.

"Blue"

"Two blue," he told the woman. She grabbed another blue one from under the counter.

After paying, the two found a small table, somewhat secluded from all the madness of the carnival. Harry tore open the plastic back, and started to pull off parts of the fluffy substance, and popped it into his mouth. Emily watched him carefully, and then copied his movements.

"It melts in your mouth," she exclaimed, loving each and every bit of the blue cotton candy.

"Yeah, it's really good, isn't it?"

"Yup," she said softly, stuffing her mouth more and more.

"Don't tell your mom you're eating this," he said smartly. "She'd probably kill me, saying it'll rot your teeth."

"'kay," she agreed. She took her eyes away from Harry and placed them back on the sugary goodness in front of her.

"Emily, do you miss your old home?" He asked, hoping to strike up a conversation.

"A little," she told him. "I miss Spotty, that's the lady who lived next to me's doggie. I use to plays with him everyday, and he licks and kissed me all over. I miss him lots."

"You like dogs?"

"Yup! 'Cuz they can run really really fast, even faster than me!"

He smiled, imagining Emily and a dog racing across the yard.

"How would you like it if you and your mother stayed at my house?"

"Your house? For how long?" she quizzed. She knew they were supposed to be leaving soon, at least that's what her mom told her.

"Forever"

"Forever?"

"Yeah, forever"

"That'd be really fun Daddy. Me and you and mommy could be a real family, not some make pretends one."

"Exactly. I haven't talked to your mom about this yet, but I wanted to make sure it was okay with you first."

"We walked around this place twice, so surely you must have some idea of what ride you want to go on next."

It was dusk, and night time was approaching rapidly. The sun had just managed to sink over the trees in a far away distance, and Harry knew that they needed to be heading home, but they had time for just one more ride.

Emily stopped, right in front of Harry, shocking him as he almost tumbled over her. Mouth slightly agape, she was staring up into the sky,

"I wanna go on that one."

Harry looked at the ride which she was talking about, and his stomach went slightly uneasy.

"That one, but that's high." And it was, after all, it was a roller coaster. It was nowhere near as which as some of the others they had saw, but it was still a rollercoaster nonetheless.

"Don't be a chicken Daddy, let's go."

"I don't think so," he said, putting his foot down. "It's a little too scary for you."

"No, it's not Daddy, please can we go. Please, please, please!" she begged, she curled her lip, and put on an irresistible face on, knowing that he would not be able to say no.

He sighed; how could he not give in when she had a face on like that? "Alright, let's go."

"Yay, thank you so much Daddy."

Harry turned his head in a ninety degree angle, looking straight up at the rollercoaster, a few of the tracks directly above his head.

"Hermione's going to kill me," he muttered.

They had made it toward the stand, where the operator was standing.

"Two?" he questioned.

"Yes"

Walking right passed the man; they made it over to the almost full train and stopped at the last two, empty seats. Emily sat in first and slid way down toward the wall of te cart. Harry sat down next to her.

"Put your belt on," he commanded, doing the same for himself.

A woman came over to them and tugged on the excess material, connecting the belt, making sure they were tight enough. Checking each and every person's, she then reported back to the operator.

"All clear, enjoy your ride." Pressing a button, the train slowly started moving forward.

The train steadily climbed up the first hill, and Harry could hear the carts moving above the tracks. Ten seconds or so had passed, and they had reached the top. The train them stopped, giving them an over view of the whole park, which now looked amazing because the sun had fully went down over the horizon.

"Wow," Emily muttered.

"You can say that again." Harry whispered back at her.

The breaks under them released, and instead of being calm and still, they were being whipped back and forth, from side to side as the rollercoaster took control of their bodies. Loop after loop, hill after hill, Emily enjoyed every second of it. Making sure to keep her eyes open, she proved that she wasn't scared, and at one moment she even released her hands from the bar, raising them above her head.

The ride was over, just as soon as it had started, or so it seemed to all of its passengers. The train arrived back at the station, and its breaks slammed, jerking everyone forward. They unbuckled there seat belts and stepped off the ride.

"Did you have a good day?" Harry asked as they began their journey across the park to the entrance."

"Yeah," she said, in a very tired voice.

_AN- Sorry this is late; I sort of forgot that I had finals after the MCAS, but hey, it's the longest chapter in the story, so maybe it was worth the wait?_

_Please review  
Kelly_


	23. Reality

_AN- Thanks for all your reviews. A special thanks to _da ruth_ who proof read this chapter for me._

Chapter 23

Reality

Darkness continued to pour in Harry's eyes, making him more and more tired with every passing minute. Keeping his hands on the wheel and his eyes straight in front of them, he picked up speed, hoping to make the drive home as short as possible. A small snore escaped Emily, who was snuggled up against the seat, sound asleep.

Sitting up straight, Harry took a quick look below him, making sure he was correct about his location. Shifting gears, the flying car descended through the air, dropping dozens of feet each second. The wheels smacked up against the black cement with a loud thud, and the car sped along at tremendous speeds. With his foot, he pressed down on the brake, knowing he was going well over the speed limit. Turning at various points, he arrived in front of his house, which was pitch black inside.

Shutting the car off, and quietly slamming the door, Harry ran over to the opposite side of the car. Slowly, he opened it, making sure that his daughter wasn't so close to the edge that she was going to fall. He slid his arms under her, and brought her up to his shoulder. With her balanced in one arm, he shut the door and walked inside the house.

Gracefully, Harry climbed up each stair, making sure not to make so much movement that his daughter would wake up, but she was out like a light. After setting her down onto the bed, he covered her up with the blanket, and shut the door behind him. He headed off into his own room, and decided he too needed to get ready for bed. Finding his sleepwear, he knew it was time to travel into dreamland.

"Don't tell me your day was that tiring where you're getting ready for bed already?" The always surprising red head asked.

"Ron!" Harry jumped in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to see how your day went." Ron answered simply. Did those muggles give you any problems?"

"Nah…The muggles were actually quite nice."

"Wow," Ron commented.

"Yeah, it was a really great day. Emily had loads of fun do. She's really brave you know, she even wanted to go on a roller coaster."

A confused look soared across the pureblood's features. "What's a roller coaster?"

"You know a roller coaster." Harry made an up and down motion with his arm, which looked more like a wave to his friend.

"Oh… Hermione told me that was an ocean; the smart one must have finally lost some brain cells."

Harry smacked his hand against his forehead, laughing at Ron's stupidity. "No, a roller coaster is when you're inside these carts, and you ride on these tracks, going up to ridiculous heights. Then, you're flung back down. Sometimes, you're flung on each side, and you can go upside down. Its really fun, you should try it sometime."

"Are you saying that your daughter is brave? Wonder who she inherited that from." Ron said sarcastically. "But, if she starts breaking the rules, then I'd be afraid, she'd be almost like your clone, except in a girl form."

Flashing back to the good times at Hogwarts, Harry couldn't help but smile.

"How are your mum and dad?" Harry asked.

"Good… Harry you may want to sit down."

"Okay," Harry agreed, worried about what Ron was going to tell him. He sat down on the edge of the bed, finally relaxing his muscles from the eventful day that he had earlier.

"What's today's date?"

Harry had to think for a moment, he was never good at keeping track of dates. "June… 19th, why?"

"And what's tomorrow?"

"The 20th?"

"And what's supposed to happen on June 20th?"

Horror found its way onto Harry's face as he realized what Ron was trying to talk to him about. "Ginny and I, we were supposed to get married. Surely she must have told everyone that we aren't by now!"

Ron shook his head in disagreement. "No one knows mate."

"Not even your parents?"

"No, Bill and Charlie arrived earlier this morning for the wedding, bringing presents and all."

"Bloody hell, why didn't she tell anyone?"

Ron shook his head at his friend, he had no idea. "Probably thinks you should, since you're the one who broke it off."

Harry was glad he was now sitting on the bed, because he felt as if he was going to faint. Everything in his life was going pretty good, at least the past few days, but he knew there had to be something that would end his happiness sooner or later."

"I can't go and tell them now," Harry said, mentally debating all different scenarios within his head. "The earliest I'll be able to see everyone would probably be in the courtyard, where the wedding's supposed to take place… I am so dead."

"Ginny wasn't at my mum's and dad's house, I don't know where she's been."

An evil thought flashed through Harry's mind. "She better not show up in a wedding dress, and act like none of this ever happened."

* * *

A burning light shown through Harry's eyelids and he threw his arm over them, trying hard to avoid the painful sensation, succumbing his body back to sleep. 

A soft, slow rapping at the door forced the young father to open up his eyes, obviously giving up any hope he had of falling back to sleep.

"Come in," he called out. The little girl mopped into his bedroom, looking reenergized and ready to play once again. Her clothes were disheveled, hair messy, and pupils were large.

"Good morning, "Harry announced. He had changed positions and was sitting up, legs still under the blanket. He patted the spot next to him, welcoming Emily to sit next to him. She jumped up onto the bed, and sat down where his hand was moments ago, with her legs folded mocking her father.

"Did you have a good nights sleep?"

Emily nodded he head in agreement. Harry wasn't sure if she was still tired, or if she just wasn't in the mood to talk.

Harry sighed and muttered to himself, "A few more hours."

"A few more hours till what, Daddy?" Emily asked, interrupting his thought process.

"Until I have to go talk to a whole bunch of people about Ginny."

"Ginny?" The young girl questioned. "Daddy, I don't like that lady. Are you and her gonna get marries?"

"No…" he responded. "We were only going to get married because I was stupid."

"Daddy, don't say bad words."

"Sorry honey"

"So you aren't going to get marries 'cuz you like my mommy, right?"

Yeah, I guess." Harry answered. He really didn't want to get into this with Emily, because he knew she wasn't going to understand.

"Then why were you gonna get married to her?"

"Because…" Harry was conflicted; he didn't know how to answer the question to himself, never mind to a three year old. "Well, Ginny and I started going out, because well I was afraid to be alone, kind of like you don't like to be left alone all by yourself."

Emily just sat and listened contently.

"And then, I continued to go through with the marriage in fear of losing Ron as a friend. I didn't think he was going to like me breaking up with his sister, especially since she had such high hopes of our marriage. I kept telling your mother over and over that I was going to break it off with Ginny, but some how, I had to find the courage within myself to talk to Ron, knowing that he would probably hate me forever. But, little did I know that it wasn't Ron I had to worry about, it was Ginny. Do you understand that?"

"Nope," Emily said truthfully.

* * *

"Hermione, we have a problem." Harry informed her, barging through her door. He was carrying Emily from his arms, and her mother noticed that he was in a hurry, she could tell he had to get somewhere, and quick. 

"What?" she questioned. Worry formed in the pit of her stomach, afraid something had happened to Emily, even though she was right in front of her.

"Can you watch Emily for a while; I have some business I have to take care of." He hesitated before going on. "I have to go to the Burrow, then over to the courtyard."

Hermione didn't have to waste a second thinking to figure out what he was talking about, the wedding.

"Oh," she said, shocked. Really, she couldn't believe he was still going to get married to her. "Congratulations." She complimented him, trying to hide the hurt in her voice.

"What?" He was very confused; why on earth would Hermione be congratulating him because he had to go and cancel the wedding. Suddenly, realization hit him like a ton of bricks; he knew exactly what was going through her mind. "Hermione, I'm not going to marry Ginny."

"Your not?"

"No Hermione." Leaning down, he placed Emily down on the bed, next to her mother, where she sat patiently. "It's not about Ginny. It's never been about Ginny, it's always been about you." He got on his knees so he could be at her level. "It doesn't matter who I was with, my heart was always with the same person, you, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't take it away from you, and maybe I didn't want to. Whether it was Ginny or Cho or some other girl, there's only been one person that I've been in love with, and that's you. Hermione, I love you, I have since the first day I met you, and I've never stopped, and I don't think I can."

The brave and confident Hermione Granger had a hard time holding back all her emotions. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she tried as best she could to hold back tears. Once she had regained her composure, she spoke, having no idea what to say. "So, if you're not getting married, then why do you have to go to the courtyard?"

"Ginny didn't tell anyone that the wedding was cancelled."

"You're kidding"

"Nope," Harry said disappointedly. "Can I leave Emily here with you while I go and make this announcement? Of course, if your healer says its okay."

"Yes Harry, its okay."

"Thank you," Harry ran up to Hermione and gave her a quick peck on the forehead, not using any thought at all for this action. He encompassed his daughter in a hug, and gave her a kiss on the forehead too.

"Bye, I'll be back soon."

* * *

"Dad," Ron called out, spotting the oldest redhead directly across from him, talking to a crowd of middle aged men. The short man turned away from his guests, facing his son. 

"Is there a problem Ron?"

"Have you seen Ginny?" He asked his elder. It was the day of the wedding, and he was sure that she was going to make a guest appearance.

"Yeah, she's in one of the dressing rooms getting changed."

"Thanks." Without another work, Ron walked away briskly, leaving his father standing there, stunned and confused.

"That girl doesn't know what she's got coming to her." Ron muttered to himself as he passed the crowds of wedding goers patiently awaiting the bride and groom to be.

_AN- Originally, I was going to have this chapter be the whole "wedding", the confrontation, I mean, but that was going to take a while to write and type, and I knew you all were just dying for an update! Please Review_


	24. The UnWedding

_AN-Thanks for all your reviews_. _A special thanks to _da ruth_ who proof read this chapter for me._

Chapter 24

The Un-Wedding

_Knock, Knock_

"Who is it?" A young, feminine voice called from inside the dressing room.

"Its Ron, let me in." He commanded. He realized that his voice had sound slightly harsh. "I need to talk to you, please."

He heard her scramble to get up and unlock the door. Nervously grabbing the door knob, she turned and opened the door, keeping her brother from harming her.

Door ajar, Ron saw his sister, hair all done up, make up on, wearing the most beautiful wedding gown. Normally, an older brother would be proud of his younger sister for giving her hand in marriage, but not this older brother. He pushed passed her, entering the room even though he figured he probably wasn't welcome.

"Is there a problem?" Ginny asked her eyebrows arched in confusion.

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" Ron asked bitterly. He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm all of his nerves and hide his anger. Minimizing the amount of emotion in his voice, he tried to act like the older, more mature one in the room.

"Ginny, why are you still going through with this?" He asked.

"Going through with what?"

"Don't play stupid." Ron said crossly. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Ginny, knowing her brother, knew better than to continue on with her little game, she knew it would only make him madder. "What, the wedding? Because, Harry still loves me, he just needs to be reminded of it."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Are you ever going to give up on him? He used to love you, even if it was only as a sister, now I'm not even sure if he loves you that much."

The red headed female did not want to hear this anymore; she knew she was right, and that's all that mattered. She walked up to the door and waved him out.

"Get out," she commanded.

Ron bobbed his head and walked over toward the door.

"I have to continue to get ready for my wedding." She added smartly.

"What wedding?" he screamed back at her. He turned to face his sister, as she slammed the door in his face.

"Git," she swore at her brother from behind the door.

* * *

"Ron, have you seen Harry?" Arthur asked. It was minutes before the wedding was supposed to start, and the groom was no where in sight. 

"Nope, maybe you should ask Ginny." He told his father sarcastically.

"I did, I did. She said he was with you last."

"Don't worry, he'll be here." Ron assured his father.

"Yeah, I hope he wouldn't be late to his own wedding."

"His own wedding, right…" The younger redhead muttered to himself.

"I'm going to check inside again."

Mr. Weasley walked away from his youngest son, leaving him with the excited guests who had no idea that an emotional bomb was about to explode.

"Hey mate," Harry called out, scarring his friend from behind. "How was that for payback?"

Ron smiled. "Glad you can still have some humor in you."

"Its either laugh or scream, and I chose to laugh, for now." Harry's attitude changed, he knew he wasn't there to make his friend laugh. "Where's this fiancé of mine?"

"Inside, in her wedding dress."

Music began to play, stopping Harry from making a comment about Ginny and her dress. Ron looked around, only to notice that the guests were standing, looking down the aisle, where his sister was standing.

"Um… mate?" Ron got his friends attention.

"Yeah"

"Do you see where we're standing?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Harry realized that he was standing exactly where the husband to be was supposed to stand.

"Bloody hell"

Ginny trotted, step by step down the long pathway, people staring at her from all directions.

"Stop, stop," Harry yelled. Everyone's heads left Ginny and turned to Harry, unsure what was going on.

"Yeah mate, the least you could do is put some dress robes on!" Fred screamed back at his young friend.

"This wedding is cancelled." Harry told the audience, no beating around the bush. Confused and shocked looks were painted across the faces of the wedding goers. "You see me and Ginny have some huge matters that need to be taking care of."

"But don't cancel the wedding," Mrs. Weasley advised the man she had looked after and thought of as a sun for at least a decade. "Post pone it if you have to, but don't cancel it."

"I', sorry," Harry said, locking his eyes with the woman that he had grown to love as his mother figure. "There will be no wedding between Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter. Now, if all of you don't mind, I would like to talk to Ginny, alone." Harry turned to Ron, and lowered his voice. "Can you make sure that everyone makes it out of here safely, and no ones left here with false hope?"

"Alright mate; you go do what you got to do."

Harry nodded his head at his best mate and then walked past Ginny, into the building behind him. The young redhead trudged behind him, unsure of what her ex fiancé was going to say to her.

She walked inside her dressing room and shut the door, loudly. He took out his wand and did a spell on the room, making sure the rest of the guest could not hear the private conversation that was about to take place.

"Why?" Harry quizzed her as she made her way over to the empty chair. It was a simple question, really, it was, but the answer was really confusing.

"Why what?" Ginny wasn't sure what he wanted to explain; there was why she lied about Emily, why she hid Hermione form him, and why she continued this nonsense wedding she knew wasn't even going to happen.

"Let's start from the beginning, why all those years did you not tell me about Hermione?"

"Because…" She inhaled greatly, it was now or never, she had to get the truth out sometime. "I knew if you found Hermione, you would have left me, and we would have never started our relationship, or gotten engaged."

"So you did this all for selfish reasons, all for yourself. Have you ever noticed that a relationship is based on two people's love for one another, and how much they care about the other? We didn't even have a relation, because all you ever cared about was yourself."

"No, Harry, we did have a relationship, we truly did. I cared about you, I still do."

"If you ever cared about me at all you would have told me about Emily, or have let Hermione tell me about Emily when she wanted to, instead of making it impossible for her to tell me."

Ginny was up and out of her seat, she couldn't take him anymore, anger was boiling inside her, and she had to let it out.

"And who does this all lead back to, huh Harry? Hermione. I lied to you in the past about Hermione, and I didn't tell you about Emily, Hermione's daughter."

"She's my daughter too, and you should have told me about her. Five minutes ago you were about t pledge that you would never lie and betray me, and yet that's all you seem to be doing recently."

"And what about you?" Ginny asked smugly. "You haven't been Mr. Sweet and innocent throughout this whole relationship. You do recall cheating on me with your ex, don't you?"

The blood rushed out of Harry's face, making him turn a ghostly pale white. How did she know about this?

"Oh yeah," Ginny continued on her rant, as Harry stood their speechless. "I'm not as stupid as you may think. And what, you're still going to go running back into Hermione's arms. She lied to you, she hurt you worse than I did, and yet, you're going to get back together with her."

"It's not like that." Harry fought back.

"Or is it?" Ginny spat back at him. Harry just listened to her, and tried to get his head back on straight. "You two are going to get back together, and what, she's going to start lying to you again? I mean she did it before, she lied to you about something as big as having a daughter, who's to say she won't lie to you again?"

Harry couldn't believe this. He crashed his hand against the table in front of him.

"Damn it Ginny, this isn't about Hermione, this is about you and I. It's over Ginny, okay. Get that through your head. We're not together anymore, and we definitely don't love each other any more. And we are not, going to get married. Not now, not ever, got it?"

Harry walked towards the door, flung it open and shut, the hard wooden object smacking against its hard wooden frame.

_AN- Short chapter, I know, don't kill me please! Just a little count down for you guys, there's only about 3 more chapters in this story._

_And guess what? This is the last time Ginny will appear, most likely. Yay!  
Thanks for reading, and please review._

_Kelly _


	25. A family?

_AN- Thanks for all your reviews._

Chapter 25

A family?

"Everything's ready?" An anxious Harry asked his best mate Ron.

"Yeah mate, but aren't you forgetting something?" The redhead questioned, using his common sense.

"What's that?"

"To go and get Hermione… you do know someone has to go and pick her up from St. Mungo's once she's released, right?"

Harry smacked himself over the head, punishment for his own stupidity; He walked out the door, planning on making the long trip in his car, since that was St. Mungo's policy.

Today, today was the long awaited for day; finally Hermione was being released from the magical hospital. Harry was happy that she was coming home, and Emily, she was thrilled.

"Uncle Ron," The toddler called out. "Can you hang this up for me?"

Ron took the picture out of her hand and examined it. The picture was a great work of art, indeed it was. The masterpiece was finger painted, mostly with colors of green and pink. Four people like objects were painted on the piece of paper; three giant sized ones.

"Of course I will," He told Emily. He placed his hand on her head and messed up her hair. "But who are all these people?"

"Well," she began. "That's my mommy, right there." She pointed to the largest person in the picture. "She's standing next to me, 'cause I lover her 'lots. And that there is me. You can tell it's me 'cause I'm smaller than the rest of you, and younger too." She moved her finger to the next object in the portrait. "That's daddy, 'cause he has green eyes, like me." She slid her finger over to the last figure. "And that's you, you've got pink hair here 'cause I ran out of red last time I paints."

"I do have red hair?"

"Yeah"

"Never noticed that before…" Ron said jokingly. "Where do you want me to hang it up?"

"Um…" Emily's eyes scanned the whole room, and still she wasn't content. "Not here."

"Where then"

Emily grabbed Ron's hand and started dragging him along. "Come with me"

Following behind her, Ron walked with the little girl into the hallway and towards the outside door. She turned the knob, opening the door, and stared at the front of it.

"Can we put it there? I want it to be the firsts thing my mommy sees."

"Okay"

Holding the picture out at arms length, and directly in front of the door, Ron took out his wand and did a quick spell, one that would make the picture hang exactly where the young girl wanted it to.

"How's that?"

Emily looked at Ron's doings and gave him the two thumbs up signal, a way to tell him he did a good job.

"Thank you Uncle Ron."

"You're welcome." Ron smiled back at her. "But now, I think I need your help."

"Okay"

They retraced their steps back into the living room, where all the decorations were hung up.

"Do you remember the poster we made earlier this morning?" Ron quizzed the little girl Emily thought for a moment, and then nodded her head in agreement. "I was wondering if you wanted to sign your name, like your dad and I already did."

The red head pointed to the banner, which was hanging straight across the back living room wall, the one with the door that led into the kitchen. Reaching over to the small coffee table, Ron picked up the box of crayons and handed them to the toddler. She took a quick peak inside, and the pulled out the light green crayon. Ron smiled when his brain made the recognition; Emily had picked out the same exact color as her father. Extending her arms high up above her head, the toddler struggled to try and reach the handmade present.

"I can't reach it," she said disappointedly.

Ron squatted down and Emily took a step closer to him. He picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. For safety, Emily wrapped her legs around his neck, securing herself encase she was to lose balance.

"Hold on," he warned

Standing straight up, Ron raised himself and Emily up to his normal height. After scratching her name on the white paper, she hit Ron on the head, and he lowered her back down to the ground. Together, they admired the crayon draw, kid created sign, which read "Welcome back Home Hermione, Love Harry, Emily and Ron."

"Ready to go home?" Harry asked Hermione upon entering the room.

"Yes, finally." Hermione answered truthfully. It had been three long days in St. Mungo's, three long days without her family, and she missed Emily, a lot. She stood up off the bed, anxious to leave this place.

"Before we go, I think we need to talk." Harry requested, his voice cracking due to the nervousness that flowed throughout his veins.

"Talk?" Hermione was confused. Yes, she knew they were going to have to talk, eventually, but she wished it later rather than this instant.

"Yes, you may want to sit down..."

Hermione did as she was told, but decided to sit in the chair rather than the bed, where she had lay for the past three hellish days.

"Does this have something to do with the wedding?" Hermione fished, hoping she had guessed correctly, because she was beginning to worry.

Harry paced in front of her, trying to find words to express his own thoughts and feelings.

"Yes…no… sort of." Harry debated. "It's about you and I, and Emily."

"Okay," Hermione agreed, this statement not making her feel any better about this conversation. Harry continued to pace the floor, attempting to verbalize his thoughts. He ran a hand through his black, unruly hair, a nervous habit he had.

"Why didn't you want me to know bout Emily, all those years ago?"

Hermione was taken aback by the question. Here was Harry, cutting back into their past, hurting her again.

"Because…" she inhaled deeply. "I knew you weren't ready to have a child; you had so much ahead of you in your life, and I figured that a child would hold you back from everything you had planned in your life." She was now on the verge of tears, and was forcing them to stay inside her tear ducts. "And Voldemort."

Harry looked down at Hermione, shocked to her that sound, that name. He hadn't heard it in months, years even. "What did Voldemort do to you?" He asked, with a threatening voice. Even though Voldemort was gone, long gone, he hated hearing that he had hurt anyone he had cared about.

She continued, not letting Harry's harshness get to her. "Nothing, he didn't do anything to me. It was about what he was going to do to you, and Emily. If you knew Emily was yours, you may not have gone after Voldemort, like you did. You might have stayed away from him, in hopes of protecting her. And if Voldemort knew you had a daughter, he would have gone after her in hopes of hurting you. I wasn't going to take any chance of him hurting another innocent child, like he did to you those many years ago. So in a way, I was protecting both of you. But, that still doesn't make up for it, I shouldn't have lied, I shouldn't have left you."

Harry was stunned at Hermione's explanation; it was so thorough, so true. Never once did Harry think of her lying because of this, and it was true, she did protect them. It all made since, he just wished he would have known this sooner.

"Yeah, I guess so..." There were other thoughts he needed to get off his chest. "Will you ever lie to me again?"

Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Hermione answered. "No, I learned from my mistakes, and lying to you would mean losing you all over again, and I just can't do that."

"Look, Hermione, I love you, I do…" Harry told her. He continued to pace around the floor, he hadn't stopped for any second during the passing minutes. "But it's that... We can't pick up from where we left off; too much has happened between us. To be together again, I think we need to start over, from the beginning."

"I completely agree."

"And we need to be together as a family, slowly, but eventually we will become a family, not just you and me, or me and Emily, but the three of us."

Hermione smiled; the three of them as an actual family would be perfection. "Yes, it may take time, but I think we can do it, I think we can become a family, like we're suppose to be."

"Me too."

Harry took Hermione's hand in his, and pulled her out of the chair. It felt natural, so natural that he forgot to let go.

"Hope you don't mind, but we need to make a quick stop before we make it home."

"Oh yeah, where?"

"It's a surprise for Emily, and for our new soon-to-be family."

_AN- Two more chapters left. I wanted to get this story done before Deathly Hallows came out, but that means that I'm going to have to really step up. Would you guys rather me put the next to chapters up this coming week, or separate them into two weeks?_

_Please Review!  
Kelly_


	26. Family Fun

_AN- Two Chapters of TOAT in one week, and one more to go, can you guys handle that much of Emily, Harry and Ron? Thanks for you're reviews!  
A special thanks to _da ruth_, who proofread this chapter for me._

Chapter 26

Family Fun

"We're home!" Harry screamed as he opened the door to his house, the one that he now shared with his family.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy," Emily ran over to her mother and jumped into her arms. "I've missed you so much. Did you see the picture I made outside?"

"Yes, I did. It's beautiful honey." Daughter still in her arms, Hermione walked into the living room and saw all the decorations that were hung up. "Did you do all this too?"

"Yeah Mom. Me and Uncle Ron did. And Daddy helped with that poster up their too."

Hermione flashed both Harry and Ron a smile, showing the men she was grateful. The mother placed her daughter back on the floor right in front of her.

"Now your Dad has something he wants to tell you."

Harry sat down in front of the girl on his knees because he wanted to be at her level. Looking straight into her eyes, he talked to her.

"Emily, you need to go to sleep."

The child sighed, disappointed at the command. She was so sure her Dad had something exciting to tell her, but she was wrong. What surprised her was that Harry continued talking.

"Because your mother and I have a big day planned for you tomorrow, and we don't want you to be one bit tired."

Emily's disappointed face immediately turned into a smile, happy that she was going to have a full day with both of her parents, together.

* * *

"Wake up, wake up, wake up." Harry called out, screaming up and down the hallways of his house. Making his way over to Hermione and Emily's room, he rapped on the door. "Get up sleepy heads." 

"Harry," Hermione yelled back at him. "It's too early, go back to bed." She advised. Harry was up before Emily was, and that's saying something, because she was a very early riser.

"No, no, no," Harry told her. He turned the knob and busted into the room, not even giing a second thought as to whether or not Hermione sleep naked. But luckily, she wasn't.

Without stopping at Hermione's bed, he marched straight over to his daughter. Getting on his hands and knees, he gently woke up the small form that was hidden underneath the covers. Emily slowly woke up, and stared at the man in front of her. It took a second for her to grasp the scene around her, but then-

"Daddy!" She called out. Sitting up in the bed, she gave him a good-morning hug.

"Good morning to you." Harry said sweetly. "It's time for your surprise, get up."

"Yay!" Emily yelled. Jumping out of bed, she ran over to the closet and began searching for some clothes to wear.

"Not for another three hours," Hermione argued.

"You can never be too early." Harry informed her. "Plus it'll be really exciting for her, seeing all the different people doing magic. And they start practicing really early. So come on, just get up."

Harry grabbed Hermione's hand, not taking no for an answer. He pulled her up and out of bed. "Get dressed."

"Okay, okay," Hermione said, joining Emily over in the closet. She couldn't hide the smile that was forming on her face.

Where are we going?" Emily asked her father. She left the closet, not doing a great job of picking out her own clothes anyway. She decided to leave that job up to her mother.

"We're going to a professional Quidditch Game, so you can watch some real people play."

"We are?"

"Yes, we are."

"Thank you, thank you daddy. This is going to be so much fun." She ran over to Harry and gave him another huge hug.

"Okay Harry." Hermione said, turning around to face him. "If you want us to get ready, you might want to leave the room so we can get dressed.

"Right, okay." Harry said, walking out of the room.

* * *

"Emily, come here." Harry advised. They had yet to leave the house, but they had now gotten slightly closer to leaving; they were at least down at the bottom of the stairs, on the first floor. Harry pulled out his wand and held it up to Emily's face. 

"No way, Harry, you are not going to do that to our daughter!"

"Why not Hermione?"

"No, you are not going to paint our daughter's face orange just to support your favorite team."

"Hey, it'll be fun. Let's let Emily decide." Harry challenged. "Emily, do you want me to paint your face orange."

"Okay Daddy."

"See, she's okay with it." And with one flick of his wand, Emily had orange face paint striped up and down her face. Harry followed this same motion again, except with the wand held up to his own face. "How do we look?"

"Cute," Hermione said truthfully.

"Please Hermione, join us please."

"Yeah, c'mon Mommy, that way we can all look the same."

"Alright, fine," Hermione said, feeling as if she had to give in.

Harry flicked his wand over Hermione's face, giving her a matching face.

"You know, we should really take a picture of this." Harry commented. "I'm going to go and grab my camera."

A few minutes later, Harry arrived with the camera, and a picture was snapped, one that would be saved in the photo album for years to come.

* * *

"Now I hope were not sitting way up at the top of the stadium like we were back in forth year." Hermione said, putting her two cents in. 

"Nope, no way, were much closer."

Harry in the lead, the trio climbed up three flights of stairs, past the hysterical fans, and the rich snobs. Turning into the aisle, they each sat in there designated seats; Harry on the left, Hermione on the right, and Emily smack dab in the middle.

Emily placed all of her attention down toward the Quidditch Pitch, where she knew all of the action was going to take place. Minutes after the arrived, players from each team hopped onto their brooms and soared through the sky, a way to warm up for the big game. Emily's eyes widened, amazed at the players.

"Wait until you see these, I'll be right back." Harry got up and walked down the aisle, towards a whole big group of people.

"Where's he going, Mommy?" Emily asked, taking her eyes off the Quidditch players and onto her father.

"To the souvenir stand probably," Hermione guess.

"Oh, okay."

Emily knew she didn't have anything to worry about, her vision wandered back to the field, where the chasers were having fun passing the quaffle back in forth, in different drills. A few were also shooting them inside the keeper's rings. The toddler was still amazed.

The players feeling as though they were warmed up enough, one by one they landed on the ground and headed back toward the locker rooms in order to change into their game robes. Emily was disappointed to see them go, as their skills were really entertaining her.

"Where are they going?"

"To get ready for the game, honey; you don't want them to get hurt, do you."

"No, I guess not."

Harry had finished his journey to the stand and arrived back at there seats, arms full of special treats he knew would help to make there day even more special. He kept the items in his lap as he sat down, making sure they wouldn't fall on the ground and break.

"Here, try these."

Harry found the weird spectacles that he had bought and handed them over to Emily. The vision helpers looked somewhat like muggle binoculars, but with many more knobs and buttons on them. Emily took them from Harry and held them up to her eyes, but all she could see was the dark.

"I think there brokes," Emily informed him.

"No, no, no." Harry took the omniculars out of her hands and played with several of the knobs. "Try them now."

For the second time, Emily brought the magical object up to her eyes. This time, though, instead of seeing darkness, she saw her father, and really close up to.

"Wow!"

"Yeah, aren't they fun?" Harry asked. Looking through the rest of products that he had got. Taking a butter beer for himself, he passed the other over to Hermione. The other bottle he had was full of pumpkin juice, which he gave to Emily.

Taking a sip of the refreshment, she turned to her mother, who took it in her hands, not wanting her to spill it.

"What's that?" she questioned curiously, pointing at a small box Harry was holding in his hand.

"This is a chocolate frog. You ever had one before?"

"Not only are you taking her to a Quidditch game," Hermione interjected, "But you painted her face, and now you're feeding her food that's going to rot her teeth."

"And since I knew you were going to say that, I bought some . See, I think of everything." Harry grinned over at her, winning the battle. "Emily, this chocolate is special, because it hops, like a real frog. When I open the box, you have to be ready to catch it, okay?"

"Okay"

Slowly, Harry took off the cover of the frog, who immediately hopped up and over Emily's head. She jumped up; arms raised high above her head, trying aimlessly to catch him in her hands. The enchanted chocolate landed on Hermione's head. She snatched it before it was able to hop away.

"Hold your hands out, and make sure not to let it go, since you want to eat it.

A horrid look flashed across the toddler's face. "I don't want to eat it."

"Okay, I will then," Hermione said. Even though she hated to admit it, she loved to eat chocolate frogs. She brought it up to her mouth, but before she was able to eat it, her daughter was shoving it away.

"You can't eat it!" Emily exclaimed.

"I can't?" Hermione asked her daughter, confused.

"No," Emily looked from her mother's confused face to her father's amused one. "You see, I never had a pet before, so can we keep it?"

Hermione smiled at her daughter. "You want to keep the chocolate frog as a pet."

"Yes Mom, Dad, can I, please?" She pleaded with the two older figures.

Harry looked into Hermione's chocolate eyes, realizing she had the same answer as he. "Sure… But what are you going to name it.

Emily thought for a second. "Todd."

"Okay Todd," Harry said, talking to the frog while entertaining his daughter. "Let me put you back into the box." He took the frog out of Hermione's hands and held it tightly in his own.

"You can't put him back in the box!" Emily commanded.

"Why not?" Harry asked, wondering the toddler's logic.

"Because then I can't see him."

Knowing exactly what Emily was thinking, Hermione conjured up a very small cage. Emily took it from her mother and Todd from her father, and placed it inside the cage.

One of the Quidditch teams' captain came out on to the field and hopped onto his broom. He did a few quick laps around the pitch, mostly trying to gain the audience's attention.

"Mommy, Daddy, look at that!" Emily said in excitement. After placing the Todd on the ground in his cage, Harry slowly took Emily's hand and guided her back into her seat, making sure she wouldn't get hurt.

The opposing team captain joined the other in the air. He too flew around and around, fans roaring at him and egging him on.

"Welcome the visiting team Falmouth Falcons." The announcer's voice projected itself through the ears of every person in the stands. Six quidditch players, all wearing matching grey and white uniforms glided out of the locker rooms and took a lap around the field.

"And now, here is your home team, the Chudley Cannons."

Harry, Hermione and Emily screamed as loud as possible, their voices combining with the other thousands of fans in the stands.

The two teams each lined up facing each other in their correct positions on the field. A referee met up with the two captains in the center of the pitch, making sure they shook hands. Placing a whistle in her mouth, a loud noise sounded throughout the whole stadium. The players each raced around and around the field.

"And the Cannons first have possession of the quaffle. Roberts passes the ball over to teammate Jones, who rushes closer and closer towards the keeper. She throws it into an empty ring. The keeper dives to the quaffle but just misses, and it goes into the ring. Cannons lead it ten to zero."

"Yes," Harry said to his two guests. He clapped loudly and both girls joined in, showing their team spirit.

"Smith now has the quaffle, who sends it over to the other chaser. But, oh my god, it looks like the Cannons intercepted the quaffle. Jones is dashing down to the keeper. She throws the ball in and, SCORES. The keeper looks mad about that play."

Fifty minutes of intense Quidditch playing was watching without one glimpse of the snitch from either seeker. Cannons were winning a close game, only seventy to fifty; with sever injuries on each team due to the nasty flying bludgers.

"I think yes Edwards from the Cannons has definitely spotted the golden snitch. The Falcon's seeker noticed this too, and he's rushing over to beat his enemy to the special ball which gives the team the victory!"

"He's got it, he's got it!" Harry told his girls, rooting his team on.

"Edwards places his hand around it, but oh no, the seeker pushes him away from it, and he flies down toward the ground. This has been a really harsh game here folks."

"It's not over yet," Harry said optimistically, "He can still get it."

"Edwards is flying back over toward the other seekers at such speeds; I'm surprised we can still see him. He pushes Harris out of the way and inches closer and closer towards the snitch. And yes folks, he caught it. CANNONS WIN, CANNONS WIN."

_AN- I don't know why, but I really liked writing this chapter, and it only took me two days! I think i should get an award for this... Or how about, wait I got it, some reviews?!?!  
One more chapter, which should be up Thursday. I've gotten about half of it written, but I'm still not sure how to end this one.  
Anyways, I'm don't blabbering on. Please Review.  
Kelly_


	27. First Date

_ AN-Alright, here it is, the last chapter of Truth of a Toddler. Hope you enjoy! _

Chapter 27

First Date

"I can't believe she's out already." Harry said to Hermione, who was holding a snoozing Emily in her arms.

"It was a long day, I'm sure she was exhausted." Hermione informed him. It wasn't just a long day for Emily; it also was for the two adults too. But it was a fun day, where they got to bond together, as a family.

Harry unlocked the door to their safe haven, and they walked inside the pitch black house where they could relax from the earlier activities of the day. Hermione journeyed straight over to the stairs, getting ready to bring her daughter into her bedroom. After stepping up the first two stairs, she turned, only to come to the realization that Harry wasn't following her.

"Are you coming to tuck Emily in?" She asked. Together, they had put the little girl to sleep last night, and she was hopping it was going to become a nighttime ritual.

Using his quick thinking, Harry came up with an excuse to stay downstairs a little longer. "I'm going to go put this little guy on the counter," Harry told her, talking about Emily's new pet friend. "Then I'll be right up."

"Okay,"

Hermione continued climbing up the stairs while Harry stared up at her, watching her every movement. Once she was out of view, Harry walked through the living room and into the kitchen door. Immediately, his jaw dropped.

The family kitchen, which they had ate breakfast at several hours before, was now turned into a romantic oasis. It was as if Harry had been transported to another place, as there was sand underneath his feet and an ocean miles away from him.

"Wonder if the door was a portkey." Harry muttered sarcastically.

But he knew it wasn't, as the kitchen table was set up in the exact same spot it was before, except now it had a romantic glow to it. Candles were placed everywhere around the room, including the table and floating high up in the air. Only one of them was lit, though, the one on the table, which indicated a small piece of paper which was laid out on Harry's dinner dish. It obviously was a letter from his partner in crime, Ron.

_Dear Harry,_

_You know you really are a romantic sap, especially when it comes to Hermione. I did everything you asked for, encase you didn't notice the sand between your feet when you stepped inside your kitchen. The candles were my own added creation for you, like the ones that are floating up around the ceiling, like at Hogwarts. Don't tell Hermione, but I had to borrow one of her books to find the spell. Yes, for the first time, I actually did read _Hogwarts, A History.

_The food, I really hope I didn't burn it. I used the muggle stove, like you asked me to, but I'm not sure, when muggles cook food, is it suppose to have flames coming out of it? And it changed this disgusting color black._

_Ha, kidding mate. Of course the food is fine, but I cooked it with magic, because you don't want your whole date to be spoiled only because I don't know how to cook. Reheating it would probably be a smart idea, but then again, I'm not the genius, Hermione is._

_Have fun tonight mate,_

_Ron_

_P.S. Don't forget to light the other candles._

Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket and flicked it high above his head, lighting up all the candles in the midnight sky, or what looked like the dark sky. He walked over to the kitchen counter, which seemed to be further away then normal, and placed the frog on top of it.

Exiting the kitchen, Harry shook the sand out of his shoes and placed them in the living room, out of the way of the entrance. He traveled up the stairs, down the hall and into Hermione and Emily's corridors. Emily was placed flat down on a little twin-size bed, and Hermione was leaned over her, covering the little girl up to make sure she wouldn't get cold throughout the night.

"Just in time," Hermione whispered, making sure not to wake the little girl. She gave there daughter a slight kiss on the forehead, and Harry copied her movements.

"Goodnight, Emily," He whispered.

"I guess I'm going to go to bed too," Hermione told him.

"I don't think so." Harry said. "I've got a surprise for you."

"What?"

"Yeah, let Emily sleep in here, come on go downstairs." Harry attached his hand in hers, and pulled her through the door, not forgetting to turn the light off on his way out. Running back downstairs, Harry stopped in front of the kitchen door.

"You may want to take your shoes off before you enter." Harry advised.

"Wow, did you actually mop the floor?" Hermione guessed.

Harry smiled at her hypothesis. "No, it has nothing to do with my chores."

"Okay, even though It would be nice if you did them every once in a while." She joked. Kicking off her shoes, she placed them next to Harry's.

Extending his other hand out, the one that wasn't holding Hermione's, Harry opened the door for her, being the gentleman that he was. Hermione walked through the door, immediately feeling her feet sink into the warm sand.

"Wow," She gasped, at the scene in front of her, not believing that Harry would so this, or do this for her. Harry led her over to the table, and they disconnected their hands.

"Harry, this is amazing."

After Hermione took a seat, Harry sat down in the chair opposite her. Candle light illuminated both their faces, and the table in front of them

"As much as I would like to take all the credit, Ron helped with it. This is all his doings." Harry admitted.

"Ron did all this?"

"Yup, I came up with the plans, and Ron did it all while we were gone at the game."

With a snap of a finger, the food hovered over to them from the countertop in the far distance, and set itself down in front of them. Light conversation about the game earlier that day floated out of their mouths, but Hermione couldn't get over what the two men had done.

"I can't believe you and Ron would go through all this trouble. I mean the food's amazing, the view's amazing."

"Your amazing," Harry finished it off, making Hermione turn several shades of red. "Want to dance?" Before she could answer, he had already taken her hand back in his, and led her out into an empty area.

Pulling her close, their hips swayed back and forth. Hermione placed her arm on his shoulder, and rested her head down against his chest. Music magically started to play and mixed together with their dance moves. Harry looked down at Hermione, and noticed tears were pooling up in her eyes.

"Hermione," His voice was calm and comforting. It had been years since they were in each others arms like that, but it still felt so perfect, so right. "I don't know what I would do without you. You've given me everything I could have ever wanted; someone to love, and someone who would love me back. You probably saved me from one of the most evil people in my life, and from the stupidest mistake I could have ever made. Most importantly, though, you gave me Emily, who's perfect, because she's a little bit of you, and a little bit of me."

Harry took a deep breath, making sure the words kept flowing. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have you in my life. I lived without you for years, and truth is, it was hell, and I don't want to go through it again. I love you Hermione, so much."

Choking back tears, Hermione responded. "I love you too."

With the tips of his fingers, Harry moved Hermione's chin up so she was directly looking into his eyes. He brought his face closer and closer to hers, they were inches away from touching. There lips touched, if only for a second, but the fire ignited in both their bodies.

It may have been the truth of a toddler that had brought them back to each other, but it was the love they shared that kept them together, not only as friends, but as lovers, and the inseparable bond shared between a family.

* * *

**The End- Okay, maybe I'm lying.**  
_AN-Alright, a big thanks to da ruth for taking time out to proof read a few of these chapters, I really appreciate it. Also, thanks to you all, the readers and reviewers. You don't know how grateful I am that you spend time to read this story.  
I decided to have a little bit of fun with this story, since I know you all love it so much. That is the really ending of this story, but since I know you guys can't get enough of it, and well either can I, I added and extra little "scene", for you all, like they do in the movies. I hate it when they do that, they give you a bonus scene after the credits!  
On with it..._

* * *

"Good morning honey," Hermione said happily to her daughter, who was walking into the kitchen, waking up from her long night's sleep.

Hermione was using her muggle skills, and cooking breakfast for her family, since breakfast was supposed to be the most important meal of the day.

"Good morning Mommy, Daddy." Emily said, yawning. She pulled the chair out from underneath the table, and jumped up onto her boaster seat. Using to hands, she grasped the cup in front of her and took a drink of the delicious orange juice.

Hermione placed a pancake on the plate directly in front of Emily. "They have chocolate chips, like the way you like them."

"Yeah, they're really good Emily." Harry announced, giving Hermione a grateful smile.

Emily picked up her kid size fork and went to dive into the food when the realization sunk in. Chocolate chips; Todd was a chocolate frog. Did her mom put her new pet into her morning breakfast? She glanced around the kitchen, in desperate search for her friend. An empty cage caught her attention, and she began to worry.

"Daddy, where's Todd?"

"Who?" Harry asked, very confused.

"My frog."

"Oh yeah, he's right on the counter, I put him there last night."

Emily hopped out of her seat, and double checked inside the cage. It was empty.

"No he's not, he's missing."

"No, he's right…" Harry got up and opened the cage. "He's missing."

"Are you sure?" Hermione questioned. She placed the pan back onto the stove, and walked over to the counter.

"Where is he?" Emily quizzed, tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll find him." He said, reassuringly. "You go check up stairs, and mom and I will look down here."

"Okay," Emily said sadness evident in her voice. She ran out the door, in desperate search to find Todd.

Hermione smiled at the irony of the situation. "This is like the first time we met."

"What?"

"Remember, I was looking for Neville's frog Trevor, and I went into your cart on the Hogwarts Express, asking you if you had seen him."

"Yeah, and I told you I hadn't, but you were amazed to meet the famous Harry Potter." Harry grinned, the memory returning to his mind.

"But now, it's not a real frog were looking for, it's a chocolate frog. And it's not Neville's frog, it's our daughter's."

"Our daughter, I like the sound of that." Harry walked in towards Hermione, and enclosed her in a hug. "Thank you for giving me the family that I always wanted." He tucked her head into his body, and gave her a kiss on the top. "I love you."

_AN- Anyone in for a sequel to this story? Please Review.  
Kelly_


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